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REGULAR ARMY CIVIL WAR ENLISTED KEPI WITH INDIAN WAR USE FROM FORT PEMBINA, NORTH DAKOTA

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This Civil War enlisted man’s kepi comes from excavations at Fort Pembina, ND, conducted on private property with the owner’s permission. The fort was established in 1870 by troops of the 20^th US Infantry and garrisoned until 1895. Uniform and equipment items were in a remarkable state of preservation from the anaerobic conditions of the dig and as would be expected from an early Indian War post, show a mix of Civil War commercial and issue items retained by soldiers, sold by retailers from old inventory, or issued by the army out of surplus stocks, along with later material, both commercial and issue.

This is a typical Civil War commercial, privately purchased, cap in the pure kepi style, using an inset top, has a 1” band around the base of the cap, which rises about 3” tall at the front, typical of caps in the “McClellan” style that became popular in the middle of the war and later faded out in favor of the shorter, “chasseur” pattern that eventually became the army’s regulation Model 1872 pattern. There is no lining left, but the leather stiffener on the underside of the top and much of the sweatband are in place. The visor has a raw edge, not bound, is about 1 1/2” deep at center. No chinstrap remains.

The cap retains its form. The visor has a bit of a wrinkle along the front edge. The fabric remains fairly supple and has shifted in color to a light brown with gray and white stains. There is a vertical tear down the front, next to the seam. There is not much fabric missing so it might be patched or backed. We have left it as is, though it looks like someone added to few stitches to keep the edges of the sides and the top together. Otherwise there are just a couple of small holes on the back. This style would have been a step up in style from the army’s issue M1858 fatigue cap and more comfortable than the M1872, so the soldier likely used it for some time, also sparing himself the expense of drawing down his clothing allowance for a new, issue one.

Real regular army caps with a history of wear on the frontier are tough to find. This is a very scarce relic.

Fort Pembina, situated in the Red River Valley in North Dakota near the Canadian border, was established in 1870 and in operation until 1895. Trading posts existed earlier in the area as part of the fur trade, and the first U.S. military post there was temporary- manned by a detachment of Minnesota troops in 1863-1864 following the 1862 Sioux uprising. In March 1870 a new fort was established south of the Pembina River and about 200 yards west of the Red River, completed by July and named in honor of Gen. George H. Thomas. The name was changed to Fort Pembina in September and the initial garrison consisted of two companies of the 20^th US Infantry. Their main duty was to provide security for settlers worried about Sioux returning south from Canada, but the troops were more occupied with escorting boundary surveys along the Canadian border and preventing Fenian raids heading north into Canada.

The fort included enlistedmen’s barracks, officers’ quarters, guard house, ordnance storehouse, company kitchen, root house, laundress’s quarters, quarters for civilian employees, hospital and hospital servant’s house, a barn for the “hospital cow,” quartermaster and commissary offices and storehouse, stables, wagon shed, etc. The garrison reached peak strength in 1878 af 200, but the average was about 125 enlisted men and 8 officers. An October 1885 return listed 97 men, 2 field pieces, 1 mountain howitzer, 100 rifles, 19 pistols, 23 mules, and 9 wagons. By 1890 the post had just 23 men, and after an 1895 fire destroyed some 19 buildings it was decided to abandon the fort rather than rebuild, the last detachment left in September. The property was turned over to the Interior Department and later sold in 1902.  [sr][ph:L]

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