Grenadier...you are correct and that was a huge issue with it. It just collected dust and critters as well as looked bad! The other side of the argument is they are unique in many ways, but the style dates back to the 1830's! Also it was the most common blouse of the 1876 Sioux War and worn at the Little Big Horn. Both skeletons found at the site had 9 buttons in front, not a 4 button M1874 sack coat. The thing is that it takes two years for an item to get adopted, bugs worked out, and issued in enough quantity AFTER the old stuff is used up before we see it in the hands of the troops. As a result the 7th Cavalry (and most of the Army) got theirs in Spring 1876 just before going off on campaign. Theses were packed up and saved in footlockers at the fort untill their return since it would be another year before the new annual issue! Images of Cook's late 1876 starvation march shows the M1872 almost ti exclusion! So it IS ugly but also massively historic!
Chris Fischer
F-Troop