Possible military button find?

Superdup

Greenie
Dec 4, 2021
10
50
Hi all,

Took a walk across a recently cleared lot in a historic area near Baton Rouge, LA and happened upon this guy lying on the surface.

It is hard to see in the pics, but the eagle has a shield on the breast with an "I" on the shield. There is some gold gild remaining, best se
1000012829.jpg
1000012831.jpg
en on the backside edges.

Online research suggested infantry of some kind but very difficult to pin down dates. I will say the eagle seems very rudimentary to me, and there is no writing on the back.

Any insight is very much appreciated!
 

Upvote 16
Very nice button! He was riding or walking that field when it fell off.
 

That is a military button and the "I "stands for Infantry. I've found several of these same buttons at a Second Seminole Indian War site circa 1837-1838
Congratulations!
 

As far as display cases go, I have run the course. I have over 40 display cases and at first I was buying them from stores. Some of the best cases that I have, are the ones from garage sales and Estate sales. They are always reasonably priced as they are second hand. I also try to stick with the older vintage looking cases that enhance the item(s) inside and sticks with the theme of our hobby. You can go to home good stores or order online, they are literally everywhere. It just depends on what you want. My wife purchased a huge Lawyers bookcase for $50 at an estate sale, cleaned it up, did a little refinish on it, and it is by far my favorite case. It now houses some of my best (larger) relics.
 

Does the gold or goldsish gild help here?
No. Theses buttons with different letters in the shield were made from around 1840 to 1854. In 1854 the letter designations on all enlisted men's buttons were deleted. After 1854 only officer's buttons retained the letter in the shield.
As far as cleaning it, I would do as little as possible. It looks to be fragile and cleaning may actually hurt it.
 

The "I" in the middle of the shield indicates it was for an officer. Nice job.
 

The "I" in the middle of the shield indicates it was for an officer. Nice job.
Smokey,
Can you give me a link to the information you posted. I am confused, because I thought all buttons had the letter insignia in them until 1854.
 

General Order No. 31 in 1851. Pic is out of Alberts button book
 

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