Late 19th Century US Enlisted Dress Shoulder Knots

These shoulder boards – known as knots - were worn by some enlisted men on duties requiring dress uniforms from 1885 until about 1902. In the regular army these were mostly worn by bandsmen, but they were also favored by many of the 19th century militia units.

They differ from officer's knots in that the cords are a worsted material in branch colors rather than the gold braid of an officer’s knot. These two are in artillery red and infantry white (in 1902 the branch color would change back to blue). The buttons are the Army general service type, as worn by all enlisted men between 1875 and 1902.