Are these Civil War jacket buttons from the NY 79th Reg or 12th Reg?

[njguy]

Hi,
I was wondering if you could help identify these buttons. We were in Grandma's house which she inherited from her dad helping her look for his 'lost treasures' as she called them when we found these buttons. She remembers seeing them when she was younger. Her memory though was a bit sketchy. She thinks they were buttons from a jacket belonging to either her father's Grandfather or her Mother's Grandfather. Both fought in the civil war. One served in the NY 79th Infantry as a sharpshooter, the other was with the NY State volunteers 12th regiment. That's all we know.
In terms of size they are about that of a US Penny in width. I saw no markings on the back. They appear to be made of Brass. I appreciate anything you can tell me about them.

 

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[creskol]

GAR buttons .. (Grand Army of the Republic)

Welcome to the forum!

 

[njguy]

GAR buttons .. (Grand Army of the Republic)

Welcome to the forum!

Wow. That was easy. Thank you very much. It's funny how obvious things become when someone tells you the answer.

I see the G.A.R. so easily where before I swear I was contemplating an H and a funny shaped U.

So Grand Army sounds very generic, I guess there's no way from that to tell which of her great grand dad's these belonged to? Either or both could have joined the organization following the war.

I wonder if the records of the organization are available somewhere for review?
Either way, I'm happy to know what they are at least and again, I thank you.

 

[TheCannonballGuy]

Njguy wrote:
> So Grand Army sounds very generic, I guess there's no way from that to tell which of her great grand dad's these belonged to?

The Grand Army of the Republic was the nationwide organization of/for yankee veterans of the civil war. So, the GAR buttons cannot tell you anything about who wore them. But you can do some family genealogy research to find out if only one of her two great-grandfathers was a member of the GAR. If both were members, you're at a dead end about who owned those buttons.