Silver plated martingale , bullseye canteen, and very rare unidentified button !!!

[Devonrex]

Wanted to post some pictures of some finds I made on my most recent outing. The martingale is my first and simply beautiful........silver plated brass with the hand carved letter "F". Many are saying this predates the Civil War, possibly as early as the Revolutionary War, but I found it in the same fire pit as all the other relics. I think it is an early martingale that may have seen action in both conflicts...........possibly later having the letter "F" carved in it for company F during the Peninsula Campaign. The 3 state buttons turned out to be a coat Massachusetts Volunteer Militia button and a coat Michigan button. The last coat button turned out to be a very rare militia button that is unidentified in Tice's reference source and unlisted in Albert's. It looks like a staff button but has the letters CG in the eagle's shield. The backmark reads "Horstmann & Allien N. Y." It has a full stand out shank as well. In the latest reference sources it is listed as Massachusetts Militia specifically Massachusetts City Guard. Many button experts are leaning towards this specifically the city of Boston. You can tell from the pictures it was in the fire pit. The bullseye canteen is fully intact also with a pewter spout. What an awesome day of digging! All of these were found in Southeastern Virginia using my Nautilus DMC IIb. This is what I posted the day I found these..............
Just got in from hitting a new home site which was also used as a Union Camp during the Peninsula Campaign. Found a beautiful canteen 2 feet down in the middle of the site......the first one I've found in many years. Around it was evidence of a fire pit with lots of other large iron readings and oyster shells. Didn't have time to dig it out but I will be going back this weekend! Around it I found a total of 6 buttons. 3 are state buttons and 3 look like eagle buttons. Then I got a whisper of a reading and dug down about 18 inches and out popped a beautiful silver plated martingale! On the front is the letter "F". I though the canteen was going to be the best find of the day and then I found this! Then I found the only coin of the day, an 1857 Flying Eagle Penny and right beside it was the arrow hook assembly of a US buckle! Around this time it was getting dark so I gave myself another 10 minutes. In that time I dug my only bullet - a 58 caliber mini and lastly a brass circular rosette. I can assure you there are many more relics left. What an awesome day of relic hunting! I will post an addendum later as to what the buttons are. HH John E. Harris aka Devonrex


4 Attached Images

 

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[dirtydig]

awesome! i really miss my nautilus from the 80s, also miss digging those pits. spent 3 days on one in mechanicsville with my dad and dug some nice stuff including 15 buttons. those were the days. by the time we were done it was over 6 feet deep.

 

[HomeGuardDan]

Nice find John - I always thought that they were called City Guard Buttons from Boston Mass. Though I recall one reference calling them early Coast Guard buttons as well.

 

[Tnmountains]

Nice I would have thought that canteen would have been the find also. Have fun digging it out.

 

[metalev4]

Great digs John. Looking forward to the cleaned up pics and congrats on a rare button.

 

[DigIron2]

damn what a day,Now that is impressive..closet thing I see to it of as now,is number 2 martingale in this book,of course it has a big K and not a badge shape like yours.(Now if you could show me about where you found, it I might be able to find out more about it)That nautilis must be a deep gigging machine,I have dug some deep shells and balls in the past using fisher's,but I don't think anything was over a foot and a half and that was having to listen for a slight sound.absolutly amazing finds man.

 

[Bill D. (VA)]

John - you've got the knack for finding the unusual and rare items. And it looks like you've done it again. Great finds!

 

[Jpro]

So very nice. Great recoveries!!!!

 

[Devonrex]

John - you've got the knack for finding the unusual and rare items. And it looks like you've done it again. Great finds!

Thanks Bill......its nice to see you, Dan, and me posting on the same day. I can remember some rare finds both of you have made also. Our area is rich in history.......wouldn't want to be anywhere else!

 

[DigIron2]

I see a dragoon martingale on "google images' that depicts company F .But cant seem to see anything with that badge design.I have never been to one,but I have always heard that a good way to find out what some rarer stuff might be are civil war show's.

 

[Devonrex]

Well I've been told this martingale is EARLY! I have been contacted by one of the experts in militaria of the Revolutionary War and he has told me that this is definitely a Dragoon Martingale associated with mounted troops that dates anywhere from 1790 to 1810. He provided me with the attached photo. The letter stands for company "F" like I originally thought. However most are shaped like a heart and he has NEVER seen one shaped like a scroll or badge before like this! Many are thin brass crimped over a lead backing however mine is cast brass. I'm stoked! This pit is obviously an early trash pit to a house site like I had thought. Man I want to get back out there to finish digging it out and it is SNOWING!!! I want to thank everyone for the nice responses.

 

[DocBeav]

Those are some AWESOME finds man! Congrats!

 

[flatbutton]

Amazing finds! Gotta love the Nautilus! Congrats

 

[markp]

love that eagle button

 

[parsonwalker]

Man, I cannot BELIEVE anybody is finding canteens in that kind of shape today. The 70s and 80s? Yeah . . . but not today. Rosette . . . buttons . . . what a score. Can't wait to see what you pull outta there.

 

[treblehunter]

Sounds like a privy dig almost, very interesting and very exciting. Great finds, and good luck after the thaw.

 

[Msbeepbeep]

Those are super awesome finds! Congrats on finding a great MD'ing spot! GL. HH! Hope you can get out soon, after finding that, you really want to go back for more!

 

[BuckleBoy]

Great stuff! I think that button is identified in the Tice book.

 

[Devonrex]

Thanks Buckle Boy for the nice comment but no Tice has it as unidentified. It is the consensus from the button authorities that this is indeed from Massachusetts and the "CG" stands for City Guard. I have also been told more specifically from the city of Boston. I don't think one has ever been posted before on any site and doubt another will be found any time soon.

 

[Valley Ranger]

Wonderful finds - congratulations!