✅ SOLVED Union Civil War Camp Finds. But are they? HELP!

[Retired Fire]

I have had a chance to hunt an area that is known to be a Union camp. Today my Wife and searched a small opening and found these items plus a lot more. But for now I am posting 3 items for your review.

1. Appears to be 2 small dime sized Ball Buttons. No shanks and one is missing the back. Am I correct and can anyone place them during the civil war era?


2. Possible Brads from Horse Reigns. You can still see the leather with stitching attached to a few. Am I on the right track? These were all found in a 50 foot by 60 foot area.


3. Some sort of long plate with bolts of different lengths. The plate is 5 1/2 inches long and tapered as well as curved across the face. I cant figure this one out.


Thanks for any help and comments.

 

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[TheCannonballGuy]

Brass 2-piece ball-buttons generally date from the mid-1800s into the late-1800s. But I should mention, ever since they were invented, they've been used on Military School uniforms, right up to today. For example, Virginia Military Institute (VMI) and United States Military Academy (West Point) cadet uniforms have about two dozen ball-buttons on them. Here's a photo of a recent female West Point cadet, showing the ball-buttons.

Without a maker's-mark (backmark), your ball-buttons are difficult to time-date with certainty. But taking into consideration where you found them, yours are very probably from the civil war era.

Your domed 1-piece brass leather ornaments with two long attachment-tabs on their rim are from sometime in the 20th-Century.

 

[Retired Fire]

Brass 2-piece ball-buttons generally date from the mid-1800s into the late-1800s. But I should mention, ever since they were invented, they've been used on Military School uniforms, right up to today. For example, Virginia Military Institute (VMI) and United States Military Academy (West Point) cadet uniforms have about two dozen ball-buttons on them. Here's a photo of a recent female West Point cadet, showing the ball-buttons.

Without a maker's-mark (backmark), your ball-buttons are difficult to time-date with certainty. But taking into consideration where you found them, yours are very probably from the civil war era.

Your domed 1-piece brass leather ornaments with two long attachment-tabs on their rim are from sometime in the 20th-Century.

Thanks so much TheCannonballGuy! Great information. So I guess the leather ornaments from the 1900's was probably just a worn out Reign that was tossed and rotted aprt then. Not too old. Oh well I was just hoping they were older.