Virginia Officer’s Coat Returns To Appomattox Court House
By Kathryn Jorgensen
(October 2008 Civil War News)



APPOMATTOX, Va. — In October the coat Maj. Frederic Robert Scott wore at Appomattox in April 1865 will go on display at Appomattox Court House National Historical Park.

Major Scott was a commissary officer serving with the headquarters staff of Lee’s army when he was paroled at Appomattox. The return of his coat in late July came about through the combined effort of the National Park Service, the Alabama Historical Commission, a citizens committee, and descendants of Major Scott, according to park curator Joe Williams, Chief, Division of Museum Services.

Scott’s coat arrived at Appomattox Court House National Historical Park on July 23. Once cataloged into the museum collection it was carried to the National Park Service Artifact Conservation Laboratory at Harpers Ferry for conservation treatment.

It will initially be displayed in a temporary exhibit on the first floor, along with a photograph and some background information.

Williams says that by the end of next year a new display case on the second floor will show the Scott coat and items from several other soldiers who were present at the April 12, 1865, formal surrender.

The Scott family plans to lend the park a life-size bust of Frederic Scott, for inclusion in the permanent exhibit, for five years.

The recent story of the coat began in early 2004. While researching exhibits for a new visitor center at Confederate Memorial Park in Marbury, Ala., Site Director Bill Rambo became interested in a tag sewn into the collar of a Confederate sack coat owned by the site.

The tattered cloth tag read: “Coat worn by Maj. Frederic R. Scott at the surrender of General Robert E. Lee at Appomattox April 12th, 1865.”

Rambo learned that Scott was a Virginia soldier so he contacted Williams. He told him the State of Alabama “would like to see this coat preserved for the public and on display at the place where it became a part of Virginia and American history.”

Confederate uniforms expert Les Jensen, now curator at the United States Military Academy at West Point, examined the coat and said it was important, “not just for the Appomattox connection, but because it is one of only a few (less than half a dozen) Confederate officer’s sack coats.”

Williams says the sack coat was “fairly common” for Federal officers but “extremely rare among Confederates.” Scott’s coat has no rank insignia and bears non-military gutta-percha type buttons.

“The style, lack of insignia, and civilian buttons all come together to show an unostentatious, late-war garment created specifically for field wear,” he says.

“It is truly an example of how uniforms went from being show items at the beginning of the war to everyday practical working garments by 1865. It is the Carhartt of 1864/5.”

Williams began collecting information on Major Scott and exploring ways to fund acquiring the coat for Appomattox.

Robert E.L. Krick, historian at Richmond National Battlefield and author of Staff Officers in Gray, found a connection with the University of Virginia’s Scott Stadium.

Williams says the stadium was dedicated to Maj. Frederic Robert Scott and his wife Frances Branch Scott by their son, Frederic William Scott, and his wife, Elisabeth Strother Scott.

The son was co-founder of Scott and Stringfellow Inc., now a full-service regional brokerage and investment banking firm in Richmond, Va.

The stadium was dedicated on Oct. 18, 1931, the day University of Virginia played Virginia Military Institute in the new stadium that seated nearly 22,000 fans.

Major Scott was an Irish immigrant. Williams learned he left Ireland at age 18, passed through New York and settled in Petersburg, Va., where he became a clerk for the firm of Thomas Branch and Sons – the largest wholesaler of fruits and vegetables in the region.

 He married Fannie Branch and became a partner in her father’s business “and established his reputation as thorough and diligent in all that he undertook,” says Williams.

Scott began his Civil War service as a private in the 12th Virginia Infantry and soon was promoted to a staff position. Williams Scott’s his business background trained him for his eventual position as Assistant Commissary Officer.

Family members have photographs and a diary that tell the story of the immigrant who survived the Civil War and established his own business and became president of the Richmond and Petersburg Railroad.

“His story speaks of opportunity to millions of Americans, and to the value of hard work and personal integrity,” says Williams.

The coat’s purchase was made possible by a “love of history and the university connection” that spurred a committee of citizens to support the project, says Williams. Committee members were Dr. T. Scott Garrett, Dr. Gary Gallagher, Dr. John Arnold, Russell Hicks and Roger Vaden.

Dr. Garrett, a Lynchburg City Councilman and University of Virginia graduate, contacted a Scott descendant, informed him of the plan and forwarded contact information to Williams.

As a result, $15,000 from the National Park Service was matched by $15,000 from the Scott family to purchase the coat. Confederate Memorial Park is using the proceeds to buy an Alabama collection for its museum, according to Williams.

“Had it not been for him it never would have worked out,” Williams says of Bill Rambo.

It isn’t known how Major Scott’s coat left his possession. Confederate Memorial Park can trace it back to Magnolia Grove, the Greensboro, Ala., home of Spanish-American War hero Richmond Pearson Hobson that is now a state park.

Williams says the coat first appeared on that site’s inventory in the early 1970s, shortly before it was transferred to Confederate Memorial Park. He speculates that there is a personal or family connection between the Scott and Hobson families that has yet to be uncovered.

“As with many questions regarding history, this will take some time and detective work. The unanswered questions are what makes history fun,” he notes.