Patriot Relics
Silver Member
I'm BACK- War of 1812 13th Infantry Regiment
Hey guys,
I've been living vicariously though everyone else's digs while I was in training over the last 2 months. Nothing against the midwest, but if I have to hunt another tot lot I may lose my mind. Luckily after a long drive, I was back in the Low Country and swinging previously productive ground. The first site was a colonial shipbuilding site on the coast- it yielded a few brass ship nails, lead seals, and a pair of flat buttons.
The second site, an 18th- early 19th century plantation trash pit, proved to be hiding the best dig of the weekend. Among a ton of iron, the CTX managed to sniff out 2 solid targets: brass butt plate (guessing brown bess) and a 20mm pewter. Given the soil conditions I knew the deteriorating pewter was a ticking time bomb so I made a moist ball of mud around the button, put it in a ziploc and rushed home (sorry no in situation pics). After getting home I immediately soaked it in distilled water and carefully worked away the dirt: 1808-1811 13th Regiment of Infantry button! I've dug quite a few infantry buttons with the oval/star but these numbered variants are far rarer. A bit of bree wax and a buffing with a soft brush has it nice and stable now. Needless to say, I could hardly ask for a better start to my summer season...love these early military pewters.
A small side note- most of my 1812 buttons do not originate from military sites. In the first half of the 19th century, the cheapest means to cloth slaves was military surplus. After most regiments transitioned to 2 piece buttons in the 1830s, many plantations purchased old uniforms for their slaves to wear...which I happily recover from these mid 19th century sites.
As always thanks for looking
Hey guys,
I've been living vicariously though everyone else's digs while I was in training over the last 2 months. Nothing against the midwest, but if I have to hunt another tot lot I may lose my mind. Luckily after a long drive, I was back in the Low Country and swinging previously productive ground. The first site was a colonial shipbuilding site on the coast- it yielded a few brass ship nails, lead seals, and a pair of flat buttons.
The second site, an 18th- early 19th century plantation trash pit, proved to be hiding the best dig of the weekend. Among a ton of iron, the CTX managed to sniff out 2 solid targets: brass butt plate (guessing brown bess) and a 20mm pewter. Given the soil conditions I knew the deteriorating pewter was a ticking time bomb so I made a moist ball of mud around the button, put it in a ziploc and rushed home (sorry no in situation pics). After getting home I immediately soaked it in distilled water and carefully worked away the dirt: 1808-1811 13th Regiment of Infantry button! I've dug quite a few infantry buttons with the oval/star but these numbered variants are far rarer. A bit of bree wax and a buffing with a soft brush has it nice and stable now. Needless to say, I could hardly ask for a better start to my summer season...love these early military pewters.
A small side note- most of my 1812 buttons do not originate from military sites. In the first half of the 19th century, the cheapest means to cloth slaves was military surplus. After most regiments transitioned to 2 piece buttons in the 1830s, many plantations purchased old uniforms for their slaves to wear...which I happily recover from these mid 19th century sites.
As always thanks for looking
Upvote
17
I want an early military button bad... I don't care how old, just older than Civil War. haha Every time I get a pewter that has something on the front, I get excited... but so far they've only had flower and checker designs on them. Very interesting information on surplus clothing. I've found a couple CW plates, but none at battle or encampment sites... all from home sites. I suppose they were discarded after the war by veterans or perhaps bought as surplus as well. Awesome hunt and welcome home man.
