Artillery Dress Uniform

This is another one of my senior pictures that was taken at my farm.  This time I am in my Artillery Dress Uniform.  There is an extremely wide variety of uniforms that were used during the Civil War and if you look hard enough you can find people that are dressed as distinct units.  There is also a variety of uniforms that can come with acting a single part.  For example, as an artillery private, I would have a uniform for battle, and a dress uniform.  Technically, the battle uniform is under the dress uniform because it is just the coat, pants, and hat.  Usually in battle a few of the buttons are undone for air flow, but for a dress setting all are neatly done.  There is also the addition of white gauntlets and a saber.  White gloves were worn by most “gentlemen” of the Civil War time period.  For a dress uniform gauntlets are worn because they can be seen as a work glove.  Even though this is for dress occasions, the soldier is expected to be fully ready to work at any given moment.  The saber is a tradition that is worn usually by officers in the infantry, but for cavalry and artillery, the saber is allowed because in most cases they would have been mounted.  I do not usually wear this uniform because I rarely find the need for it, but when I wear it I am usually in a parade or in formation.