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Comment by Bob Denton on April 28, 2008 at 3:48pm

The soldier is wearing as tobacco bag hanging from his button. There are several surviving examples of these bags (I have a nice repro of one of these, based on an original in the NC Museum of History collections). They are simple little drawstring bags, often with a decorative tassel on the bottom, and were made using silk, polished cotton, or other relatively non-porous fabric (to keep the tobacco reasonably fresh).

That coat (on the third soldier from the left) indeed is very odd. It does look like a really long frock; if it's an overcoat, it's unlike any I've ever seen, military or civilian. Notice how long the sleeves are, and how bunched-up the right sleeve looks. The right arm is straight, and the sleeve is hanging at least halfway down his hand. I do believe it is a military frock, however it is way too big for the wearer, and may have been adapted for use as an overcoat.

Comment by Chris on April 25, 2008 at 5:23pm

Looks like he has two poke bags, perhaps tobacco.

The third soldier to the right appears to have an overcoat on. I can see his jacket sticking out on the right and a second row of buttons.

Comment by Greg Bullock on April 25, 2008 at 3:50pm

The soldier on the front left of the photo has his pipe stuck in his buttonhole. But does he have something hanging out of his coat?

And what type of coat is that on the 3 soldier from the left. It looks way too long to be a frock coat.. or is it a civilian style frock or overcoat?