🥇 BANNER DIV XXI - Carbine sling buckle and ID tag!

[Mach1Pilot]

I went to my first ever Diggin' in VA the past three days.... had a blast! Days 1 and 2 were spent digging a ton of bullets .... carved bullets... enfields... pistol bullets.... J hooks... buttons.... and an 1859 IH. All great items! But to be honest, I was hoping for one super good item to set it over the top.

Well... I got it on Saturday. After two dry days Saturday started with rains imminent, and me wondering how long I would hunt with my $5000 non-waterproof GPX5000 sealed up with a $.35 cent ziplock bag and duct tape! I had already decided that my son would keep BedfordBob's GPX in the dry in the car for the day... no need to take a chance getting a borrowed machine wet.

After digging a handful of bullets I was continuing to work a patch full of dig holes that I heard was producing some dandy confederate items when I got two hits beside each other. The last 6 times this happened I dug barbed wire... so that is what I was expecting. I picked the stronger of the two and opened up the plug. Good news and bad news, the target is still in the 6" deep hole, and loud. Bad news is that is usually a chunk of iron at depth.... good news is that could be a good target. A little deeper.... the Garrett pro pointer starts picking up a big signal. Finally I locate it... the straight edge of some green! Plate maybe Of course I'm excited at this point! Slowly working around it, I can see that its not going to be a plate, but a nice carbine sling buckle! Great! now I have my neat object for the trip!

All smiles and the hole is filled, I start to walk away... I take about three steps and I remember that there was a second target, so I head back. Sure enough, beside the first hole is another good sounding signal. I thought, OK... even though it sounds good here is the deep nail. This time I cut my plug so that the one side is the edge of the first plug. I flipped it back and I can see the bottom of a silver looking small thing... First thought - "great, an aluminum cow (tag)..... WHOA- that's not a cow tag!" I flipped it to see engraved writing and knew I had dug my first solider ID tag!

I thought this can't be happening. Two outstanding objects 10" apart in an area littered with dig holes! This does not happen on a first trip to DIV! Am I really seeing this?!!! I put my GPX down, and started walking over to a fellow hunting with me and told him "I can go home now"... We both stood there in unbelief as I tried to contain my enthusiasm... He watched my detector and spot while I took it to the car. Along the way I met my son (Mach II)... and others who noticed us checking it out.

The rest of the day I found absolutely nothing, between the rain, the BBQ, and the weird feeling that comes with finding something significant... it makes me not care at all if I find anything so I guess I really wasn't concentrating on the signals. I'll need a week or so and a bunch of junk iron signals and nails to get back into it , I guess!

I'm still in shock... can't believe it really happened... probably can't top this find! But I will try!

Oh - the picture with a bunch of the finds does not show all of the bullets! And sorry they are not yet cleaned!

Thanks for looking!

 

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[CRUSADER]

Any surviving family members?

Nice piece of history!

 

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[Skrimpy]

In the NPS civil war soldiers and sailors search page, I can't find a J. McHugh. There is a Peter and another with no first name referenced. Both were privates. Perhaps this belonged to the unknown fir?st named McHugh?

Peter is in the wrong company. The best way to find out who this guy was is to request the records of an "unknown" mchugh from company K, first US cavalry.

 

[Bramblefind]

I looked this soldier's name up on Ancestry.com and found this record - it is handwritten so I might not have it all completely accurately.

U.S. Army, Register of Enlistments, 1798-1914 Record for James Mchugh

Enlisted: Dec 24, 1862
At: New Creek, VA
By: St. Haycock
Term: 3 years
Born: Mayo, Ireland
Age: 24
Occupation: Volunteer
Eyes: Blue
Hair: Brown
Complexion: Ruddy
Height: 5'10"
Regiment: 1 Cav.
Co: K
No of Enlistment: 2
Remarks: Died Sept 21 1864 of typhoid fever. Interred at Winchester, VA, a Private ?? he died??

 

[Skrimpy]

I looked this soldier's name up on Ancestry.com and found this record - it is handwritten so I might not have it all completely accurately.

U.S. Army, Register of Enlistments, 1798-1914 Record for James Mchugh
....
Regiment: 1 Cav.
Co: K
...

As long as you got the name and the company right, you have the right guy...there's only ONE mchugh in the soldiers and sailors system in company K in the US cavalry. Let's see what else we can find. Huge piece of information being the place of birth.

I find two candidate James McHughs in the 1860 census born in Ireland. I trust the soldier and sailor system and the ancestry registration more than the census.

Yoder TWP, PA, age 21 born Ireland...the 1 looks wrong on the image but the transcribed version says it's a 1.

NYC, age 23 born Ireland but the date of enlistment, date of the census and ages don't jive.

 

[Mach1Pilot]

I looked this soldier's name up on Ancestry.com and found this record - it is handwritten so I might not have it all completely accurately.

U.S. Army, Register of Enlistments, 1798-1914 Record for James Mchugh
....
Regiment: 1 Cav.
Co: K
...

As long as you got the name and the company right, you have the right guy...there's only ONE mchugh in the soldiers and sailors system in company K in the US cavalry. Let's see what else we can find. Huge piece of information being the place of birth.

I find two candidate James McHughs in the 1860 census born in Ireland. I trust the soldier and sailor system and the ancestry registration more than the census.

Yoder TWP, PA, age 21 born Ireland...the 1 looks wrong on the image but the transcribed version says it's a 1.

NYC, age 23 born Ireland but the date of enlistment, date of the census and ages don't jive.

To the two of you - a BIG THANK YOU! I've not found much yet other than what was in the NY times article referenced above..... and in that it says he was already dead by Jan 1865 because he is listed in a cemetery near Winchester, VA. I'm guessing you found the right guy!

 

[Skrimpy]

I think the only way you are going to find more information is by going to the national archives and requesting his service records. They are usually brief (a few pages) but sometimes will have some useful information. You can also request pension investigation records but you might pay the money for nothing (there will only be an investigation if he had a widow that requested the pension). Pension investigation files, if they exist, usually are hundreds of pages of GOOD info. Some of them that I have ordered include marriages, marriage certificates, dependents, medical records, death records, afidavits and interviews with family members and friends. For example, one of my relatives took a Minnie Ball to the torso (I think it was a shoulder) and because of that he was entitled to more money. They investigated it fully. There were medical documents showing exactly where the ball hit and the effects it was having on his life 40 years after the war. They spoke with his doctor, with his friends and with his family. There were quite a number of pages on just that one aspect of his life and that wasn't the only thing in the file.

The problem I see with Mr. McHugh is that the only way there are pension investigation records for him is if he had a wife that applied for the widows pension but if there is one you can be sure it's FULL of good information. You can find the order forms and instructions on the searching and obtaining of civil war service records and pension investigation files here:

Requesting Copies of Older Military Service Records

If you order, plan on waiting 3-6 months to get back the records or a reply that one wasn't found...or since you're in VA you could probably take a day trip up to DC and get the records whenever you want. They do allow you to do research yourself. You just have to schedule with them when you are coming....oh for some reason I thought you were in VA. Not PA. You're still not to far from DC it seems to me.

 

[Breezie]

OMGoodness what a WONDERFUL piece of history you found! CONGRATULATIONS on a fantastic hunt and a well deserved BANNER!!! Way to go, Breezie

 

[junkhunter]

nice finds,one of several id tags,darned if i could find one

 

[Mach1Pilot]

I was doing some more looking into this man's history tonight.... some possibilities:

1860 Yoder Twp census, Cambria County, PA lists a James McHugh as being age 21, and an unmarried laborer. The real interesting thing is Yoder Twp is near Johnstown, PA which would put him only about 25-30 miles from my home before the war!

And I've found this in an online cemetery records locator:

[FONT=Arial,Helvetica,Univers,Zurich BT] MCHUGH, JAMES [/FONT]
	[FONT=Arial,Helvetica,Univers,Zurich BT] US ARMY [/FONT]
	[FONT=Arial,Helvetica,Univers,Zurich BT] CIVIL WAR [/FONT]
	[FONT=Arial,Helvetica,Univers,Zurich BT] BURIED AT: SECTION 6 SITE 15 [/FONT]
	[FONT=Arial,Helvetica,Univers,Zurich BT] WINCHESTER NATIONAL CEMETERY [/FONT]
	[FONT=Arial,Helvetica,Univers,Zurich BT] 401 NATIONAL AVENUE WINCHESTER, VA 22601 [/FONT]

Now I need to stop by this cemetery the next time I am through Winchester to see what is listed on his headstone.

This research is interesting.

 

[Michigander Dan]

I agree w/ Buckleboy that this is a Banner post for sure. Kudos on the ID tag and research you have found out, a true museum piece. WTG

 

[Mach1Pilot]

One last thing to add this post.... thanks to a fellow relic hunter living in the Winchester, VA area I have a pict of his headstone! I've met a lot of people in this hobby, and this fellow (who does not post here) is top notch!