Early Civil War Massachusetts Hussar Style Shell Jacket for Mounted Sergeant

Early Civil War Massachusetts Hussar Style Shell Jacket for Mounted Sergeant – The term hussar represents an early type of horse soldier; the Hussars started in Hungary in the 1400s. Most hussars were light cavalry; 15th-century Hungarian Hussar horsemen fought Ottoman forces. In the 17th and 18th centuries, armies in France, Prussia and Russia copied the Hussars’ style.

Several early Civil War state units occasionally wore flamboyant, European-inspired uniform styles. The French influenced Zouave uniform with baggy trousers and a fez was the most popular of these uniform styles; a smaller number of volunteer companies and cavalry units experimented with Hussar-style elements that featured ornate chest braiding in the form of horizontal“hussar bars”, additional decorative braiding on the short shell jackets, often accompanied by tall shakos. In Massachusetts and some other New England states, distinctly European uniform traits appeared early in the war as independent volunteer companies rushed to outfit themselves before Federal standards took over. Civil War Hussar style jackets took the form of short, waist-length or cutaway dark blue or gray jackets heavily decorated with horizontal rows of black, yellow, or gold braiding (cording) across the chest. The Hussar influence in the United States peaked at the onset of the war, in 1861. Although initially influenced by European Hussar regiments’ tactics and equipment, most American units shifted toward standard light cavalry sabers and carbines rather than specialized European Hussar tactics.

This shell jacket exhibits the description enumerated above of early, state utilized, Hussar style jackets – it is constructed of a blue, indigo-dyed wool, comparable to Federal issue, war period cavalry and artillery shell jackets; the entire jacket is resplendent with yellow braided, decorative elements on the chest area, the cuffs, the collar and the back; additionally, the original Sergeant’s yellow, bullion chevrons are on each sleeve; along the back bottom of the jacket are two “pillows” or bolsters used to hold up a mounted soldier’s belt, as seen on all Federal issue cavalry and artillery shell jackets;  there are ten, Massachusetts  cuff size, staff buttons on the front of the jacket; the buttonholes are all hand-whipped; the elbows are the “balloon style”; the interior of the jacket is lined with a coarse cotton, which is heavily backed and quilted. The jacket remains in overall very good condition, retaining strong color throughout and exhibiting some very minor, scattered insect nips. This is a rare jacket and the only one of its type we have had.