Help with Pvt. Gilmore Jacket

[Tiger_rifles]

Good day all,
I need some help with the Pvt. John Y. Gilmore Jacket that is seen on page 132 of EOG/CS. I am not so much looking at the jacket as I am the shoulder boards. I have been searching high and low for information, and have seen pics of two modern reproductions of this jacket. Both show shoulder boards much like the ones you might see on a RDII but that is not what I am seeing in this picture.

I see a flat board sewn down onto the jacket. Some form of light colored trim or piping around the board. And 3 small rounded false buttons.

How far off would I be to say they were made of wool?

Thanks to all for any insight or suggestions.

p.s. Any guess as to what those buttons are? I say "AVC" Eagles.

[Ross L. Lamoreaux]

They aren't shoulder boards, they are epaulettes (shoulder boards are those items sewn on indicating rank, such as for Federal officers). I do believe you are correct, they are wool, have a type of twisted piping, and judging by how they lay flat in the original image, they are probably piped between two layers - one of the coat material and the other by the darker wool. As for the buttons, based on the length of the eagle's neck, I'd say you probably also right that they are AVC buttons (or something very similiar)