Page 26 - January1960

2t NATIONAL BUTTON BI'LLETIN January,1960
CONFEDEEATE BUTTONS (Continued)

The Regulations for the Army of the confederate states, adopted in-1861 and
nultGtrea ui tne authority of the seeretary of war, contains General order No.
5.- issuea fr6m the Adjutant and Inspector-General's Ofiice in Richmond under
date of June 6. 1861, on the "Uniform and Dress of the Army."
Under the sub-head of "Buttons" are these provisions:
13-I'or General ofiicers and officers of the General stafi-bright gilt,
rounded at the edge, oonvex, raised eagle in the centre, with stars surrounding it;
large siz€, one inch in exterior diameter; small size, half an inch.
14-For Ofiicers Of the cOrps of Engineers, the same as for the General staff,
except that in place of the eagle and stars, there will be a raised E in German
text.
15-For Officers of Artillery, fnfantry, Riflemen and Cavalry-gilt, convex,
nlain. wiilr large raised letter in the centre: A for the Artillery; I, for the In-
iant"V' R,, for the Riflemen; C, for the Cavalry; large size, seven-eights of an inch
in exterioi diameter, small size, half an inch.
1$-Aides-de-camp may wear the button of the General Staff, or of their
regiments or corps, at their option.
l?-For enlisted. men of Artillery-yellow, convex, large raised A in the cen-
tre; three-quarters of an inch in exterior diameter'
18-For all other enlisted men, the same as for the Artillery, except that the
number of the regiment, in large letters, will be substiiuted for the letter A.
These provisions for the buttons of the Army were never changed, although
in later editions of the "Revised Regulations," instead of being numbered 13 to
18, inclusive, they are given as Paragraphs 14?8 to 1483, inclusive, of Article
xl,vu.
Two things in the foregoing regulations should be noted:
First- the button for General officers and officers of the General staff is
provided'with "a raised eagle in the centre, with stars surrounding it." The type
in pose of the eagle is not dcscribed, nor is the number of stars limited. It wiU
be ihown that the eagle on Confederate buttons canre in a grea,t variety of pos-
tures; also that it could be surrounded by 11 stars. representing what was known
as the Southern States, or by 13 stars which included the two border states of
Kentucky and Missouri, which actually joined the confederacy and were repre-
sented iri the Confederate Congress. In no copy of the Confederate Arrny Regu-
lations consulted is the number of stars specified. However, in a portfolio, "Uni-
forms and Dress of the Army of the Confederate States," printed by Charles H.
Wynne, 94 Main Street, Richmond, and "published by authority" of S. Cooper'
Adiutant and Inspector General, under date cf September 72' 1867, there is a
plate of buttons lithoeraphed by E. Crehen and "Approved by War-Dept'" Tttis
plate shows the General ofiicerts button with 13 stars. Also, the eagle is depicted
is with head turned to its right, wings extended and standing on a pedestal. T'lxe
13 stars are of particular interest here, because the date of General Cooper's
authorization was prior to the secession of both Kentucky and Missouri. I0 is
also interesting to note, and a bit puzzling too- that newspapers which reproduced
the order regrrlating the army uniform usually referred to the eagle button as
having 13 stars. Thi Lynchburg Virginian of May 29, 1861, gives the number of
stars as 13.2
secondly, attention is cal]ed to paragrdph No' 18 of the "Regulations" which
provides that enlisted men of the cavalry and infantry shall wear buttons bearing

2 ADDals of the Lynchburg Home Guard, by Oharles M. Blackford' Jr.' p. 48'