This is a Civil War/Indian Wars era shabraque for the McClellan saddle. This is the style that was worn under the saddle instead of over the saddle. It is basically a dressed up saddle blanket pad that would have been used during parade formations. It measures 30" from the front to the rear along the spine and is 24" wide from the top of the spine to the bottom. It is made of dark blue wool material on the outside, machine sewn to a heavy white cotton backing material. A single row of 1" gold trim is sewn around the perimeter, leaving a 1/2" border from the edge. The edge of the shabraque has a white fringe sewn all the way around. In the rear corners of the swallow tails a bullion embroidered Eagle patch has been sewn on. There are a couple of tears in the outer wool fabric, the most significant being in the top center on the right side. This tear is 10" long, while a 2" tear is just forward of the eagle on the same side. These could be easily repaired. The white cotton backing shows some staining, but remains in very strong condition. It's obvious that this piece was used very little, maybe two or three times at most. The white cotton fringe is almost 100% intact! These are some seldom seen items of cavalry equipage. While this one does have a couple of issues, it displays like a million dollars! When you have a saddle on it you can't even see the large tear! This will go a long way in finishing out your Cavalry collection.

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