Georgia Hussars Jacket

The uniform jacket and portrait were recently discovered in a Savannah, Georgia residence.  The original purchaser, well known and respected collector and dealer Dicky Ferry[i], (and Hall of Fame stock car racer) researched and found that it was a Georgia Hussar uniform.  I continued the research and discovered that the officer in the portrait was Hussar Captain J. Frederick Waring.  Whether this was Waring’s jacket before he was promoted, or it belonged to one of his men who had a portrait of Captain Waring, is unknown.  But as the history of Waring and the Hussars are hardly indistinguishable, I will detail the service of both.

The Georgia Hussars fought in all of America’s major wars including the War Between the States.  At the beginning of the War, they were part of the volunteer force that seized Fort Pulaski.  The Hussars later served with the Jeff Davis Legion Cavalry in Virginia.

Fred Waring had been the company’s cornet since 1858; Waring was elected 1^st Lieutenant on April 20, 1861.  In that capacity Waring commanded the Hussars during a thirty days’ tour of duty on Skidaway Island, Georgia in the month of June 1861.  On July 8, 1861, he was elected Captain.  As the company grew it split into two companies and Waring became Captain of Company “A,” Georgia Hussars.

This company left Savannah for Virginia on September 17, 1861, and on reporting to the Adjutant General of the “Confederate States Army,” it was ordered to report to Colonel (later General) Charles W. Field, when they were designated Company E, 6^th Virginia Cavalry.  While under Colonel Field’s command the troop fought the “Battle of Bog Wallow”[ii] December 4, 1861, where Captain Waring was first wounded.

In December the Hussars were transferred to Willaim T. Martin’s Jeff Davis Legion Cavalry and was designated as Company F.  The Hussars fought with the Legion and the Army of Northern Virginia until after the 5^th Georgia Cavalry was organized in January of 1863.

At the end of August 1863, the Hussars were sent to South Carolina as part of the 5th Georgia Cavalry. They fought at Johns Island, Charleston, Green Pond, and many other battles within the area.  The Hussars remained in South Carolina until orders sent them back to Savannah on May 13, 1864; along the way, those orders changed and the 5th Georgia Cavalry rode to join General Joseph Wheeler and the Army of Tennessee.  Once they had joined Wheeler’s forces, the troops traveled to Atlanta.  They participated in the battle for that city and in the greater Atlanta Campaign, where they lost many men. They saw combat in several major subsequent actions, including Kennesaw Mountain, Buckhead, Big Shanty, Chattahoochee River, and Decatur.  Their last documented skirmish was the Battle of Morrisville Station on April 13–14, 1865.  The regiment surrendered in Hillsboro, North Carolina on April 26, 1865.[iii]

The uniform jacket is in very good condition with some moth damage in areas as shown in the photographs.  The silver plated shoulder scales are intact and have some age tarnish.  The silvered ball buttons are mixed with some Scovill back marks and some plain.  The aristocratic Hussars must have made quite a sight as they trotted through Virginia in their silver plated elegance.  The jackets ornamentation appears dark today, but that is silver tarnish.  All the buttons, all the braid, and even the epaulettes, are silver plated.  It remains in this great condition because they had discovered it was unhealthy to wear blue, so it was sent home by the spring of 1862.

[i] See Dicky Ferry’s ad at the end of the pics.

[ii] See humorous account below. “The Story of the Bog Wallow,” by Alexander McC. Duncan, published in the 1905 Roll of Officers and Members of the Georgia Hussars, pages 485–492.             This account will not post to this site.  I am working on it.

[iii] Wikipedia