uscgdavis
Jr. Member
John C. Salsich was born in 1838 in Western New York. In 1861, at 23 years of age, John traveled to Rochester, NY and enlisted in the Union army. He was assigned to Company K, 13th regiment of the New York State Volunteers.
Rising to the rank of sergeant, John served until May of 1863, and then settled in South Bristol, NY.
He died in 1926 and is buried in Rose Ridge Cemetary, Naples, NY.
The American Civil War may well have been the first major conflict in which soldiers felt the need to wear some sort of a personal identification badge in the event that they were killed or wounded in battle. A great apprehension among soldiers was “the nameless grave,” the fear that loved ones might not recover their remains or learn what had become of them. John would have paid to have a jeweler hand etch this beautiful tag.
I found John's identification tag today while metal detecting a corn field. I will never know how it ended up in the middle of a field hours away from where John lived, but I am thrilled that I recovered it and got to learn about this American hero.
Rising to the rank of sergeant, John served until May of 1863, and then settled in South Bristol, NY.
He died in 1926 and is buried in Rose Ridge Cemetary, Naples, NY.
The American Civil War may well have been the first major conflict in which soldiers felt the need to wear some sort of a personal identification badge in the event that they were killed or wounded in battle. A great apprehension among soldiers was “the nameless grave,” the fear that loved ones might not recover their remains or learn what had become of them. John would have paid to have a jeweler hand etch this beautiful tag.
I found John's identification tag today while metal detecting a corn field. I will never know how it ended up in the middle of a field hours away from where John lived, but I am thrilled that I recovered it and got to learn about this American hero.
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