relicsearcher,
Your button is a low convex two-piece button dating from about 1860, bearing the letters
RB. All known examples (when readable and discernable) carry the backmark; "HORSTMANN & ALLIEN / NY". These buttons are attributed as being worn by the Republican Blues, a 19th Century Savannah Georgia militia group comprised of socially prominent men.
Alphaeus Albert in
Record of American Uniform and Historical Buttons, listed this particular button many years ago as PA 40, for Pennsylvania
Reserve
Brigade. The last three decades or so, as seen a surprising number of these
RB button being found in and around Savannah Georgia, in context with other finds of the era. As noted on occasion, numerous field recoveries paint a more concise picture of actual use, and with time prove earlier references to sometimes be erroneous in their attribution.
The more expanded and well documented button reference compiled in recent years;
Uniform Buttons of the United States 1776-1865, by Warren Tice, lists these
RB buttons as GA264, for Republican Blues, Savannah.
Georgia Republican Blues "RB" button Civil War
CC Hunter
