Good Evening, All;
The following links will take you to each of the currently known US Marine Corps Uniform Specifications from the Victorian/Edwardian eras. (Transcribing these documents for the re-enacting/CAS community has been a past-time
cum assignment for me, in conjunction with my membership in the Grand Army of the Frontier). Each of these specifications, as well as the interstitial General Orders and Special Orders that modified them, are as complete as I can currently make them, and are presented here for your edification and enjoyment.
A few caveats:
1. In the 19th Century, the word "cloth" universally meant wool. If a garment is made of something else, the regs will specify "linen", "cotton", or somesuch. If the regs say "cloth", they mean wool.
2. Likewise, the word "lace" refers not to your great-grandmother's antimacassar, but to metallic or woolen braid used for trim.
3. Mohair has nothing to do with one of the Three Stooges, but is in fact a wool or silk braid, usually black. If it is a color other than black, the regs will so state.
4. The USMC Uniform Regulations of 1875 were delivered to me without the Enlisted section. As soon as I aquire these pages, I shall transcribe them as fast as possible, revise the specification, and upload it.
5. All of these transcriptions were done manually; Optical Character Recognition software did not work very well when I tried it on the M1875 spec -- I spent more time correcting errors than I spent manually typing the M1892 spec...
6. The word "Arc" in the description of Enlisted Men's chevrons is deceiving. While it would appear to mean a single rocker under the chevrons like a present-day Staff Sergeant, specimens of the period show three rockers under the chevrons. In this instance, it would appear the words "Arc" and "Tie" mean a set of three rockers, or three horizontal bars under the sergeant's three chevrons, respectively. The "device of the school of application" mentioned in the 1900 specs for Gunnery Sergeant is a bursting bomb surmounted over two crossed rifles.
7. I may revise the list of notes further, depending on what kinds of questions you all ask me.
USMC Uniform Regulations for 1859:
http://members.cox.net/malachi.thorne/Uniform%20Regulations/M1859%20Regs.pdfUSMC Uniform Regulations for 1875:
http://members.cox.net/malachi.thorne/Uniform%20Regulations/M1875%20Regs.pdf (see note 4)
USMC Uniform Regulations for 1892:
http://members.cox.net/malachi.thorne/Uniform%20Regulations/M1892%20Regs.pdfGeneral Order No. 427, July 18 1894, modifying Regulations of 1892:
http://members.cox.net/malachi.thorne/Uniform%20Regulations/GO427-USMCRegs1894.pdfSpecial Order No. 50, July 25 1896, modifying Regulations of 1892:
http://members.cox.net/malachi.thorne/Uniform%20Regulations/SO50-USMCRegs1896.pdfSpecial Order No. 55, December 16 1896, modifying Regulations of 1892:
http://members.cox.net/malachi.thorne/Uniform%20Regulations/SO55-USMCRegs1896.pdfUSMC Uniform Regulations for 1900:
http://members.cox.net/malachi.thorne/Uniform%20Regulations/M1900%20Regs.pdfI have the honor to remain,
Your Obedient Servant,
Bvt. Captain Malachi Thorne
Commander, US Marine Detachment
Department of the Pacific
Grand Army of the Frontier