Civil War Marine Corps (Confederate?)

[JCBrownABNPFDR]

I purchased these several years ago at an estate sale near New Orleans, La. I initially assumed these were USMC shoulder knots because the buttons are USMC buttons. After researching them there is something that these knots have that the USMC knots did not have. The addition of the black piping between the cords of the knot became an area of interest. The piping is hand sewn to the knots and this appears to have been done after the original manufacturing. After searching for an explanation using every resource that I could find, I've come to the conclusion that these might be Confederate States Marine Corps shoulder knots. Here are the facts that I've accumulated:

 

1) The fledgling CSMC was primarily staffed by officers that left the USMC. They wore USMC uniforms with USMC shoulder knots.

2) I've found references that stated that the CSMC uniforms were primarily USMC uniforms with the addition of black piping.

3) I've found references stating that the officers of the CSMC wore shoulder knots but I've never seen any. So I don't know if the piping on the uniforms were carried over to the shoulder knots.

4) The red pad under the knot matches the description for the CSMC knot.

4) As for the USMC buttons with the shoulder knots. I have noted in several references that many of the CSMC officers used their USMC buttons. These buttons were made by HORSTMANN in PHILADELPHIA. I've been told that these buttons were available during the civil war and before.

 

What do you think? Do you have another explanation for the black piping? Did I miss something?

 

[museums]

The best clue to a probable date is the backmark on the buttons. While Horstmann was a Civil War era button maker, and used many (many!) different backmarks, that specific backmark appears to be one usually dated after 1893.

[JCBrownABNPFDR]

Since you said that, I've been researching the backmark on buttons and find you are correct. The backmark on these buttons indicate a manufacture later than the Civil War. They are loose buttons that I acquired at the same time as the shoulder knots so maybe I incorrectly mated them. Thanks for the heads up. Unfortunately this confuses the issue even more for me. I just knew that the USMC buttons put me on the path to help with the identification.

[Airwolf]

the knots still look great, even if the buttons may be a little mismatched