This is very pretty set of Civil War second lieutenant’s shoulder straps with single-row embroidered, gilt, alternating dead-and-bright bullion borders with gilt jaceron wire edges, and deep green velvet centers. The gilt finish to the bullion is excellent. The color to the centers is strong with only minor soiling and just two tiny wear spots near one edge and one corner that we can see. The edges of the blue base fabric are trimmed slightly when they were taken off a coat, but a narrow border still remains around the jaceron wire edges. The reverse is thus fully open, rather than partially closed by stitching pulling the edges of the blue underneath, and shows the typical grayish-brown webbing, with a few small holes, along with the white thread used in the embroidery. Both straps show a few loose strands of brown thread on the reverse, likely the remains of the thread attaching them to the shoulders of a coat.

Lanham, “Straps” pp. 65-66, provides a summary of arguments for these straps as either riflemen or medical staff. Opinion here at the office is about equally divided. Some note the use of green for the sashes of medical officers and a few pairs of green straps with good medical staff identifications. Others note both that black or dark blue Medical Staff straps are far more common and that in this case second lieutenant is an unusual rank for medical staff, where Assistant Surgeons ranked as 1^st Lieutenants and Surgeons as Majors, (though allowance might have to be made for an “acting assistant surgeon” or differing state militia regulations.) Lanham concludes, “If green was used by medical officers it was an uncommon practice” (p.67.) We (that is, the writer) think a somewhat stronger case can be made for riflemen. Not only was green the long standing color associated with military riflemen, both regulars and militia, coming from the traditions of concealment and hunting, it was also the regulation color for the U.S. Mounted Rifles before the Civil War, imitated by units like the New York Mounted Rifles during the war, and was the color often adopted by infantry styling themselves “Rifles,” with green straps known to be worn by officers in the 1^st and 2^nd U.S. Sharpshooters, the 20^th New York (“Turner Rifles,”) and likely others in both the volunteers and militia.

On whichever side of this debate you plant your chair, this is very nice set of Civil War shoulder straps with great color and condition that display really well.    [sr] [ph:m/L]

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