Name the hat!

[28thNY]

Hello All,

I came across a photo of an officer of the 28th New York in a collection at the historical society in Lockport at the weekend and am trying to figure out what sort of hat this gentleman was wearing.

The officer photographed is Captain William Rowley of Company E, 28th NY.

I've uploaded two pictures to http://www.28thnycoe.com/rowley including a close up for people to look at.

He's holding the hat by his side and I've had people suggesting it was a hardee or a sort of slouch hat. Any suggestions?

Thanks,

[FloridaConfederate]

Crumpled m1858 Dress Hat

Chris Rideout
Tampa, Florida

[28thNY]

Well, that was easy. Thanks for the confirmation.

[FloridaConfederate]

No worries. Contrary to reputation I am known for helping folks with swell facial hair !

It is weird how he is holding it and the brim and all..

CR

[eric woods]

Check out Echoes of Glory arms and equip. Of the Union page 186. From the photo, it looks like his hat does'nt have a lot of height like the '58 does. And the brim looks a little narrow. Photos in EOG show private purchase and import slouch hats. The side pinned up follows the rule for 58's, but the shape seems off to me, but that's just my opinion.

Eric Woods

[FloridaConfederate]

I was basing my opinion on the lenght of the crown to the brim, the width of the ribbon around the crown and the lack of grosgrain edged brim.



[At the request of the Mr. Taylor, I have removed the hot link to the specific image that Chris is referring to but am leaving in the url link; apparently the hot link was eating up the bandwidth for the site. - THP]
http://www.28thnycoe.com/rowley/rowley-hat.JPG

[sbl]

Possibly a Whipple hat with a soft crown. Viewed upside down.

[Curt-Heinrich Schmidt]

Hallo!

A tough one, IMHO...

The overall width of the top might would seem too broad for a taperered dress hat, even punched in and out.
The width of the brim appears too narrow, as if possibly trimmed back narrower (which would delete the officer's ribbon edge binding.
However, brims on originals are found from 3 inches to 3 1/2, and it may just be the angle and play of light.

Dunno, beyond speculation and a limited view with the angle and play of light and shadow. Could be. Could be something else.



CHS

[sbl]

Looks like air vent holes in the top. 28th was mustered in in May 1861. "Strange" hats abounded.

[Artyman]

Looks to me like just another one of those civilian soft round hats with one side turned up and pinned with a badge. The holes could be hand punched. Nothing really special about it. What always makes me wonder is why so many officers went to great lengths to smartly uniform themselves, only to resort to some plain crummy beat up shrunk hat? Especially Confederates.

Harry