Union Buttons are more commonly found compared to their counterpart Confederate buttons. There were more of them manufactured simply because the Union had a better financial means than the Confederacy.
Confederate soldiers would sometimes steal a coat from a dead Union soldier if he needed one as well as other necessities. This meant that Confederate soldiers would have been wearing Union gear but you would hardly see a Union soldier adorning anything Confederate.
The most common of Union buttons are the General Service Eagle Button. This device consists of an Eagle with a shield on its breast with arrows in one talon and an olive branch in the other. Depending on the soldier's job, there also could be a letter in the shield to determine the soldier's duty. For example, A is for artillery, C is for cavalry, D is for Dragoon, I is for Infantry, and R is for Rifleman.
This is a grouping of General Service Eagle buttons. The button in the middle is a General Service Infantry button. These buttons were recovered in Tennessee. All of these buttons have a blank button back with no backmark.
This button is a General Service Eagle C Cuff Calvary button. The backmark is "T.N. Dale and Co. *S.N.Y.*" This button was recovered in Tennessee.
Subject: Union Government Buttons 
11/8/2009, 4:31 pm
