This Civil War sailor’s jacket is identical to the Lovejoy 1857-58 contact USN seaman’s “round jacket” illustrated in Ron Field’s “Blue Jacket,” and pictured also in Troiani’s online “Military and Historical Image Bank, with the pattern discussed at length in Field’s 2021 Military Images article, “Navy Round Jackets.” It is made of indigo blue dyed wool, with a notched, flat collar, and fitted with two rows of nine medium-size US Navy buttons each on the front, with four more on each cuff. In this case, the buttons are backmarked “SCOVILL MFG. CO. /WATERBURY” and are, as is typical, secured by metal rings on the inside, the more easily to remove them for polishing or to wash the garment. There are two external pockets, placed low on the front, with the opening set level between the second and third rows of buttons from the bottom. The cuff buttons are set on a narrow vertical placket about 1 ¼” wide and spaced ¾ inch apart. The lapel buttons are set 2” apart vertically, and when buttoned would be about 2 1/2” inches apart horizontally, widening to about 4 3/4” between the uppermost pair. The body is fully lined in an olive green fabric in the body and plain white in the sleeves. The center back is stenciled in white figures ¾” tall, “3 S / 4S13,” though it is possible the “S” is actually an “8.”

The condition is very good. The jacket is solid, with all buttons in place and strong color. The right cuff shows a little wear on the edge, with the outer seam open for ½,” a small ¼” hole just behind the seam about 6 inches up, and another small hole closed by a couple of black stitches just above the elbow, also near the seam, more evident by touch than by eye. The left armpit seam is open for about 1.” The brown cotton lining of the left pocket is in place. The lining of the right pocket is detached inside along its rear edge and has a short tear, but is in there and nothing is visible from the outside.

The interior of the jacket is lined in an olive green cloth, shows some minor wear spots and period repairs. There are four very small holes to the lining inside the right breast, and a narrow line of fraying about 2” long to the lining at the back of the neck where joins the collar, and a short 1 ½ inch tear to the lining below the left armpit. The armpits show some resewing of the sleeve lining to the body lining with some slight fraying to the body lining and two or three small black patches sewn in. The only large patch is of the same black material about 2 ½” wide and 5” long patching the lining just above the waist band on the left, behind the left pocket, though the pocket itself is in place and intact. These look very much like period repairs to keep the jacket serviceable.

Civil War Navy material is very scarce and the service played a vital role in winning the war. This involved long periods of sea duty enforcing the blockade, punctuated by intense excitement in chasing blockade runners or confronting Confederate warships attempting to break it. There were also extended operations to secure the Mississippi, cutting the Confederacy in two, and navigating inland waterways in support of army operations, engaging other ships, forts on land, as at Fort Darling in May 1862, and sometimes both at the same time, such as in the Battle of Mobile Bay. This is a great jacket that could be the focus of an impressive Civil War navy display.  [sr] [ph:L]

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