Coat
Date1790-1793
OriginGreat Britain
MediumWool, linen, silver-wrapped threads (trace copper and lead), silver metal crimped over bone
DimensionsOL 48"
Shoulder width 15"
Credit LineMuseum Purchase
Object number2005-338,1
DescriptionBritish officer's uniform coat of red wool cloth trimmed at lapels and cuffs with blue cloth and embroidered with silver-wrapped thread. The red and blue wool textiles are woven in plain weave, fulled (shrunk), napped, and shorn so the resulting cloth does not ravel where cut. Buttons are stamped metal to imitate "thread" buttons, crimped over bone forms and having catgut shanks. Coat has standing collar, about 1 ¾" in height. Front of collar has applied panels of blue cloth and silver embroidery. Two epaulettes are embroidered with silver and end in lobed shape. Epaulettes are missing the fringe. Coat is cut to curve sharply over chest, with front lapels of blue wool with silver embroidery and buttons arranged in pairs. Each side consists of six pairs of buttons and buttonholes, with additional motif on collar. (3 buttons are missing on front.) Buttons and buttonholes are functional, allowing the coat to be buttoned across in double-breasted fashion. Front can also be fastened closed by five sets of hooks and eyes attached to front edges with lapels folded back. In place of exterior pockets, two pairs of wide, shallow v-shapes, each with a button stitched to the point of the v, are embroidered in each side of coat, located where pocket flaps would normally be positioned. Sleeves are cut to curve over elbows. Each sleeve is trimmed with two pairs of embroidered shallow v-shapes centered by buttons. Sewn-down narrow cuffs of blue wool are shaped to echo the shallow v shape. Back of coat has pleats at the hips topped with buttons and center back vent topped with v-shape embroidery. Coat is fully lined with off-white worsted twill. Functional linen pockets are stitched into lining on interior. Coat has plain-woven linen sleeve linings and pockets (all fibers confirmed by microscope, LRB, 3/24/06). Note that the breeches in the photo are reproductions.Label TextThis coat and waistcoat worn, Deputy Adjutant General James Moncrieff (1744-1793) is remarkable survivor from career military officer who served primarily in North America. James Moncrieff entered the Royal Military Academy at Woolwich on March 11, 1759 and was appointed practitioner engineer and Ensign on January 28, 1762. On June 7, 1762, he joined the Earl of Albemarle on his expedition to capture Havana and participated in the siege that captured Moro Castle. Moncrieff suffered from wounds received during the siege. He continued to serve West Indies and East Florida receiving further promotions to Lieutenant on December 4, 1770 and Captain-Lieutenant on June 10, 1776.
James Moncrieff served throughout the American Revolution and was present at the Battle of the Brandywine and helped design and construct a bridge across the Raritan River. He also followed the British Army south into the Carolina's and Virginia. He served at the Battle of Stono Ferry and conducted siege works around the city of Savannah. Moncrieff’s work around Savanah earned him a promotion to Major on December 27, 1779. The British army moved North to Charleston and Moncrieff was give the position of Chief Engineer for the siege operation. With another extremely successful siege and the capture of the American Southern Army, Moncrieff was promoted to Lieutenant Colonel on September 27, 1780. James Moncrieff would follow Cornwallis’s army North to Yorktown where he would be captured and later paroled and return to England.
In 1790 James Moncrieff received a promoted to Deputy Adjutant General and probably dates to the time when this coat and waistcoat were produced. He later was appointed Quartermaster General to the Forces sent to Holland under the Duke of York. It was during the Siege of Dunkirk in 1793 that Moncrieff received a mortal wound and died on September 9, 1793.
ProvenanceThe coat descended in the family of General Alexander Graham Stirling, who married Margaret, the eldest daughter of Col. James Moncrieffe, of Sauchope, Fife. The coat was thought to have been used by Stirling's father-in-law, Col. Moncrieff, who served in the Royal Engineers from 1763 until 1793, when he died. Moncrieff served in America during the Revolutionary War. He attained the appointment to deputy adjutant general in 1790. The style of this coat is specific to deputy adjutant general and quartermaster general.
