![]() This one shows the gold oak leaf of a major with a blue field of nap for Infantry. Near the end of the war, permission was officially given by the War Office not to wear them in active fighting areas. All well and good until snipers started selectively picking off officers at a great distance with sad success. To the Armies of the North & South, size apparently did matter: with bigger beards, bigger cannon and bigger straps. Thus, during the Civil War only, these rank shoulder boards (or straps) often sported double or triple borders. Thus, many accourements were special-ordered from local supply houses which took proud liberties with both the size and design-complexity. Regulations were not strictly enforced on officer's uniforms during the Civil War, especially during the early rush to get large numbers of commissioned leaders into the field. Such is the case with many Confederate buttons. When buttons were cast quickly in local shops, these "locals" often had similar blank backs. Many times, the manufacturer of the button would mark the back with his company name(called a backmark.) But in this case, there is a blank backpiece with no maker being so named. The shank or upright loop at the back for sewing the button to the coat can either be intact, bent, or broken off. Sometimes buttons were made with tin or iron backpieces which tended to rust through much more quickly than brass backs. As in this example, the remaining gilt sets off the design of the eagle beautifully. Others barely change and even manage to keep a fair degree of gold "gilt" to their face designs. Some buttons get a "ground-action" or surface corrosion from the effect of minerals or water in their environment. Of course, a lot has to do with the chemical condition of the soil and its water-table. It is hard to imagine that after 140 years of freezing and thawing underground, they still are excavated looking just like this. Dug buttons are amazingly sturdy little things. Normally, it would've been sewn in a double-breasted row down the front of the officer's jacket or frock coat. This is a coat sized Confederate officer's button for General Staff, known as a droop wing variety. ![]()
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