Civil War ID Tag

[RockyDig]

During the last DIV in Culpeper I was lucky enough to find this rare find.

L. DAVIS
Co. A
4th REG
VT
VOLS
WHITINGHAM, VT

Fought in Battles
1861, 2 & 3 United States
Lee's Mills
Williamsburg
7 Days Fighting
Before Richmond
Fredricksburg
South Mountain
Antietam
Bull Run

 

[mdotoli]

Wow very nice great find

 

[Mach1Pilot]

No doubt that has to rank really high on your list of DIV memories! Thanks for bringing it up the hill and letting me hold it moments after you found it. I'm sure glad it was you who found it after everyone else pounded that area of the field for 2 days!

I'm also thinking this would look great on the banner!

 

[cambria09]

Now that is cool! That would have to be my number one find. Thanks for posting it. C9

 

[jewelerguy]

awesome piece of history. congrats!

 

[ATpro5]

That Is A Beautiful Piece Of History. Being Able To Link A Item To A Person Is Simply Amazing In My Eyes. Great Find!

 

[RelicDude]

Now that is interesting piece of history awesome recovery.

 

[pepperj]

Great piece of history thanks for posting it up.

Question: Would this be an issued tag, or a tag that would be privately made for the remembrance of his service?

 

[Gary1963]

Awesome! find

 

[Metal Magnet]

dam, if that doesnt give you goose bumps, I dont know what will! tremendous find.

 

[ModernMiner]

Awesome historical find.
Congrats to you,
MM

 

[recondigger]

Have you done any research in the man that owned it yet?

Dig until your arm falls off

 

[CASPER-2]

 

[Steve in PA]

Great find Rocky! I'm glad it survived in good enough condition for you to make out what was written on it. A few more years and it may have deteriorated to the point that you wouldn't have been able to make out the inscriptions. Which is another reason why we need to save relics like these as soon as possible!

Now, if you will give us the full service history on Mr. Davis, I will give you a BANNER vote!

 

[RockyDig]

Great piece of history thanks for posting it up.

Question: Would this be an issued tag, or a tag that would be privately made for the remembrance of his service?

These would have been purchased by the soldiers from the sutlers.

 

[RockyDig]

Here is some information on Lysander Davis:

Birth:	1834
Death:	Apr. 29, 1901

[TD="colspan: 2"]

Civil War veteran. He enlisted in Company A, 4th Vermont Infantry regiment on 22 August 1861, and was mustered in on 21 September. He reenlisted on 15 December 1863. He was taken prisoner at Weldon Railroad on 23 June 1964, held at Andersonville, paroled on 16 December, and mustered out on 13 July 1865. Davis was granted a pension in 1889.

His brother Lewis Davis died at Fredericksburg on Dec 13.

I have been researching ancestry.com and may have found some living relatives. It seems he and his wife had two daughters so his surname is not shared by living relatives.

Here is a link to the 4th VT Infantry's Civil War history:

4th Vermont Infantry - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia


[/TD]

 

[recondigger]

That is awesome and in my opinion now with the research done a banner find

Dig until your arm falls off

 

[nova treasure]

A brief history of Id tags​

Prior to the Civil war, soldiers did not have any set method to carry ID in case of injury or death. In fact, it wasn't until the spanish american war that "dog tags" became more uniform in design. It wasn't until 1906 that the U.S. war department made them an official part of a soldiers uniform.Many federal troops, worried about being identified, bought discs or pins through newspaper ads or merchants who traveled with the soldiers. Then the merchant, a jeweler or the soldier himself would engrave or scratch their information onto the back of these tags. History now shows that 42% of all civil war bodies were never identified.​

This is a Great find and I will be voting banner find.​

 

[Msbeepbeep]

Great find!

 

[fmrUSMC_0844]

Thats an awesome find!! You have my banner vote!