Gentlemen:
As most of you know I started out as a captain of cavalry, c.1870's-mid-1880's. For "field dress" I normally wore a CW officer's 4-button sack coat, and some ersatz trowsers (sic) with the 1-1/2" yellow strips down the outside seams. This is sufficient for field duty.
However, with my "appointment" as Acting Assistant Ordnance Officer Dept. of the Platte, with the brevet rank of major, for more formal occasions I have been wearing the 1879 Officer's frock coat with major of ordnance (crimson) shoulder boards. (Yes, I know that technically one was NOT supposed to wear bvt rank, but...).
My question is, what trowsers should I be wearing? I thought I read somewhere that Ordnance officers wore a dark blue trowser, but should they have the stripe or not, and if so what color? Black, crimson (dark red), or ?
Your comments would be greatly appreciated.
As an aside, it is snowing in Denver, AGAIN, for a change!
Not sure when my club's berms will ever get dug out...
Your obdt servant,