Page Last Updated:
Friday, 15-Mar-2024 13:35:48 MST

Valid HTML 4.01 Transitional

Uniform Regulations. United States Navy, 1864

Coat

   For a rear-admiral, commodore, captain, commander, lieutenant commander, lieutenant, master and ensign, and all staff officers of assimilated rank, respectively, to be as follows:

   Frock coat, of navy-blue cloth, faced with the same, and lined with black silk serge; double breasted, with two rows of large navy buttons on the breast, nine in each row, placed four inches and a half apart from eye to eye at top, and two inches and a half at bottom; rolling collar; skirts to be full, commencing at the hip bone and descending four-fifths thence toward the knee, with one button behind on each hip and one near the bottom of each fold; cuffs to be closed and made two and a half to three inches deep.

Cuff and Sleeve Ornaments

   The lace on the cuffs and sleeves is to be navy gold lace, a quarter of an inch wide, and to be placed a quarter of an inch apart, except where a half is hereinafter designated, the first strip being below but joining the cuff seam, and the others distributed in groups upwardly.

   On the upper side of each sleeve, above the lace and midway the seams, is to be worn a star of five rays, embroidered in gold, and one inch in diameter, with one of its rays directly downwards, the point thereof being a quarter of an inch from the upper edge of the lace.

  The cuff and sleeve ornaments of the staff officers are to be the same as for the line officers with whom they assimilate, respectively, in rank, except the gold star, which is to be worn by line officers only.

Shoulder Straps.

     All shoulder straps, except for gunners, boatswains, carpenters, and sailmakers, are to be of navy-blue cloth, four inches and a quarter long, and one inch and a half wide, including the border, which is to be a quarter of an inch wide, and embroidered in gold.

The centre and end ornaments, or distinctions of the line and staff, and indications of rank, are to be embroidered in gold or in silver, as hereinafter designated, and are to be as follows:

   Staff officers are to wear shoulder straps of the same description as prescribed for line officers with whom they assimilate, respectively, in rank, with the following exceptions as to centre devices:

   In the medical corps, the anchor is omitted; in the paymasters' corps, an oak sprig, in silver, is substituted; in the engineer corps, a device of four oak leaves, in silver, in the form of a cross, is substituted; for professors of mathematics, the letter P, in silver relief, on plain gold circle, is substituted; for naval constructors, a live oak sprig is substituted; for chaplains, a silver cross is substituted; for secretaries, the letter S, in silver, is substituted.

   Midshipmen, third assistant engineers, and clerks, are not to wear straps.

   Gunners, boatswains, carpenters and sailmakers are to have shoulder straps of plain gold lace, four inches long and three- quarters of an inch wide; the boatswain to have the letter B, and the carpenter the letter C, embroidered in silver, midway upon their straps.