Description
Superb quarter plate tintype of an unidentified member of the 155th Pennsylvania Infantry. The regiment would wear the regulation Federal issue uniform during it’s few couple of years, but in February 1864 they would recieve a uniform inspired by the French Zouave uniform. Brigadier General Kenner Garrard had been working since the fall of 1863 to have the regiments of his brigade learn French Zouave light infantry tactics, and rewarded them with the right to wear the uniform. The 155th Pennsylvania uniform consisted of a French blue pantaloons and a jacket with yellow trim that featured very large yellow “tombeaux”, a stylized false pocket on the front left and right breasts of the jacket. A red Zouave sash with yellow trim, a red fez with yellow trim and a dark blue tassle attached, completed the uniform. The regiment was first tested in battle during the fight at Fredericksburg, where the color guard suffered heavy casualties in an ill-fated assault. At Gettysburg the regiment would suffer 19 men wounded or killed. They would also take part in the Overland Campaign of 1864 and the Appomattox Campaign. They would be discharged in June of 1865. This view shows the infantryman dressed in his newly issued Zouave uniform not long after it was issued in February of 1864. He stands posed in front of this military themed back drop which has been associated with the winter camp located in the vicinity of Alexandria, Virginia. The regiment would wear this uniform until war’s end.
