Woolen dress military jacket, as prescribed by U.S. Army regulations from 1872 to 1879. Worn by Colonel James Oakes of the Sixth U.S. Cavalry. Oakes was the commanding officer at Fort Hays in the mid-1870s. He was an 1846 graduate of West Point, a class noted for its high number of Civil War generals (Oakes was a Brevet Brigadier General during the war). He also served in Kansas at Fort Leavenworth prior to Fort Hays. Oakes retired from active service in 1879, and died in 1910. The coat has a tailor's tag for Samuel W. Owen, an English immigrant who maintained a Washington, D.C., shop specializing in military uniforms.

Creator: Samuel W. Owen
Date: between 1872 and 1879