18th Century British 62nd and 6th Regement of Foot Buttons? , and other misc ones.

DocBeav

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This past year brought in some good buttons from the beaches. I had a one that I was researching (pewter with a "62" on it) and was pretty sure it was British, and maybe from the 62nd Reg. of Foot. I found a website hosted by re-enactors for this Regiment and contacted one of them:

62nd Regiment of Foot

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Me:
I came across your website while doing some research on some buttons I have found while metal detecting. One of them is pewter and has the number "62" on it. After some checking on other sites I think it may have been from your regiment back in the day.
I live in Virginia Beach and I found it while out at the oceanfront this past year. Not far from this beach is the area where the "Battle of the Capes" https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_the_Chesapeake took place and I was curious to know if your regiment was ever involved in that battle or if you know of any deployments to the southern states during the war. Any info you may have would be great, I'd like to know more about the button if I can. Please see the attached photos. Sir Thank you for your time!

Reply:
What a cool find! As to my knowledge this regiment would not have been directly involved in that naval engagement other than the limited possibility of a soldier serving as a draft in His Majesty's Marines at the time, however we would have to check regimental draft returns...etc to see this, however this is extremely unlikely. This button being a beach find could have come from a few sources and then washed up their.Option A: (In my opinion most likely)Since it is in VA it was likely from a soldier of the 62d Regt who was serving in the "Convention Army". This being the remnants of Burgoynes Army which invade northern NY in 1777 who remained in captivity after the convention of Saratoga (More commonly today called the surrender). The men of the 62d were moved from captivity in NE down to Virginia during the mid point of war and then subsequently moved around in VA from time to time to avoid capture. Option B:This button could have come actually from an American soldier...(Weird right?) The rational for this is that when the 62d Regiment arrived in Canada from Ireland in 1776. their clothing which was sent later that year from Ireland for the purpose of re-outfiting the men of the regiment for the coming campaign of 177 was captured.The transport ship Melish which carried the clothing for the 62d along with some others in Carltons (And later Burgoynes) Army was captured by none other than John Paul Jones. This clothing was then taken into Rebel ports where it was then redistributed to American soldiers as clothing (American wearing British uniforms!). Could it be possible this button was lost by an American solider campaigning later in the war who was issued 62d regt clothing in 77? Or even just had the button still kicking around re-purposed for use on another garment? Unfortunately we may never know. In either event you have a pretty cool piece of American history on your hands! I would be interested however if you could send me a picture of the back of the button. Which could help to ascertain the age of the button (As the regiment did serve in American during the war of 1812. although it was in Maine). Thank you again for sharing this, it is super exciting and should you ever wish to sell it please let me know ;) I am going to copy a friend of mine who is sort the authority on this Regiment and a fabulous historian who has given me much of the knowledge above.

Me:
Jack, Thanks for all the great info! It really makes you wonder about things like this, how they got there and who had it last when it was lost.
> I have attached some more pictures of both sides that hopefully show it a bit better. I also have a smaller button with a "6" on it that could be 6th Reg of Foot? I found that one about a year or so before the "62" one. Smaller, but pewter as well.

Reply:
Thank you for the additional photos. Looking at it, that 62nd button sure does look dead on for the 18th cen. Also that 6th regiment of foot button looks pretty spot on too. Ill have to look a few things up on the regiments buttons next week when I can get a hand on my notes.
What an awesome collection you have!
Thank you for sharing and if you would ever consider selling either of these buttons please let me know!

Pretty cool eh? Not planning on selling them but if anyone has similar ones they may be in demand! Don't ya just love history!

Here are a few picts of some of the other buttons that have been cleaned up a bit.

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mindcrime1988

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Pretty neat background story. Congratulations on your finds.
 

Iron Patch

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I've found four 62nd buttons. A Rev War pewter this past Fall, two 1812 pewters the Fall before.... and the 1812 officer button about a decade ago.
 

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DocBeav

DocBeav

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Jul 8, 2012
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Man, those are nice!
 

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