Old Court House Civil War Museum  Winchester, Virginia

Remember Me:  Civil War Identification Devices 
By Trish Ridgeway

Many Civil War identification devices have been found in family collections or dug on battlefield or campground.  These rings, pins, stencils and discs represent the first use of identification items in large numbers by American soldiers until the War Department formally introduced what we now call the dog tag in 1906.

As in all wars, soldiers worried that if they died or were gravely wounded in battle, their families might never learn what had happened.  They marched over land where previous battles had occurred and saw bodies not yet buried and saw huge numbers of crude grave markers that were unmarked or said Unknown.  Dyer in his Compendium of the War of Rebellion (1959, p.20), states that of the 325,230 federal soldiers who are buried in National Cemeteries, 148,883 are marked unknown.  Certainly soldiers searched the debris of battle, looking for someone who had marched next to him into battle, but had found nothing that could be identified.

According to news accounts, before the Battle of Cold Harbor many soldiers were seen writing their names on a piece of paper and then pinning it to their coats.  Other paper documents such as letters and bibles could also provide information as to identity, but paper identification might not survive battle or weather.

Very few identification devices for Confederate soldiers have been found.  Paul F. Braddock, author of Dog Tags, History of the American Military Identification Tag, has one in his collection that was privately made (2003, p. 8).

Many federal soldiers purchased items of metal as identification.  In the Northern newspapers there were advertisements for metal pins, rings, stencils and discs.  In addition the sutlers (merchants) who traveled with federal forces could stamp out discs for the soldiers in camp.

Ironically, John Kennedy, a resident of New York , wrote to Secretary of War Edwin Stanton on May 3, 1862 proposing that all federal soldiers be issued an identification disk and sent along drawings of a suggested design.  The proposed design looks very similar to what the War Department eventually adopted—forty-four years later.  F. Stansbury Haydon, who discovered Kennedy’s letter in the National Archives also found a letter in response that refused the request without explanation.  (Journal of the American Military Institute, v. 3, 1939, pp. 61-63.)

The Old Court House Civil War Museum in Winchester , Virginia has in its collection one stencil, one ring, and five identification discs.  The exact text of each item is shown below, but extra decorative markings such as periods and asterisks are omitted:

 Brass stencil:  

"A. BORNEMANN, / 20th MASS. VOLS."

Private Henry A. C. Bornemann enlisted in the 20^th Massachusetts Volunteers on April 1, 1864.  His records show him missing at Battle of the Wilderness May 6, 1864, which is where this stencil was found.  The site of the battle in Spotsylvania County was made up of dense forest and underbrush.  During the battle much brush caught on fire, and many wounded were trapped and died in the fire.  Perhaps Bornemann’s stencil is the only thing that survived. 

Silver ring:  
 
"S. BENNETT. CO. G. 11. IND. V. V.”

Seth Bennett of the Indiana 11th Infantry, Co G, enlisted March 31, 1864. This ring was dug by Harry Ridgeway at the site of the Third Battle of Winchester (Sept. 19, 1864), one of the bloodiest cavalry battles of the war, and Bennett’s unit was there.  Bennett’s records show him diagnosed with chronic diarrhea at Ft. McHenry , in Maryland , June 1, 1865.  He was discharged July 26, 1865 and received a government disability pension due to the diarrhea.  He died March 22, 1903.

None of the soldiers who wore the discs below were killed or wounded in the area where the disc was located.   They were probably lost while in action or while at camp.  Braddock surmises from some dug examples that the discs were either fastened to a watch fob or attached to a pin with a metal loop. (Dog Tags, p.158)

Brass disc: 

"ROBERT LUCAS / CO. K. / 1st. VET. CAV. / N.Y.S.V. / WATERLOO . N. Y."  Reverse:  " MAJOR GENERAL. GEO. B. MCCLELLAN / WAR OF 1861", Bust of McClellan.

Robert Lucas’ regiment, the New York 1^st Cavalry, was engaged in a small action at Leetown , Virginia , on July 3, 1864, when this disc was lost.   The style of this identification disc with General McClellan’s image on the reverse side was very common as were other patriotic motifs.

Brass disc:
 
 "EDWARD SMITH / CO. F / 21th N.Y. / CAV. / W. TROY. N.Y." Reverse: "MAJOR GENERAL GEO. B. MCCLELLAN / WAR OF 1861" Bust of McClellan 

Private Smith of Troy, New York, enlisted July 9.1863 in the 21st New York Cavalry, and deserted after the Civil War while in Kansas. Using Halltown, Virginia, as a base of operations, this cavalry unit engaged in hard Shenandoah Valley campaigning from January 1864 to August 1864, participating in the Battle of New Market, the burning of VMI, Lynchburg, Second Kernstown, and many other smaller engagements. The disc was found at the camp at Halltown that was used actively from November 1863 to January 1864, and again in August 1864.

Brass disc:  

"AARON D. UNDERWOOD / CO. G / 1ST US. / CAV. " Reverse:  " MAJ. G. B. MC. CELLAN, / PENINSULA CAMPAIGN"  Bust of McClellan. 

Private Underwood was engaged in the climatic Battle of Cedar Creek (October 18, 1864), and this disc was dug near there.   Like Smith, Underwood continued service after the war and deserted in Kansas on July 28, 1866.  The rest of Underwood’s story is an interesting one that I hope to tell sometime in the future in this publication.

White metal disc:  

"S.HILL / CORPL / CO H / 153 N.Y. / WAR of 1861 / S.V. / GREENFIELD , N.Y. "  Reverse: George Washington / Born Feb 22, 1752"  Bust of Washington  "MERRIAN" who may be the sutler.

Seth Hill, New York 153rd Infantry, Co H, enlisted August 13, 1862.  He got sick May 20, 1864 and returned to the field in mid-October 1864, just in time for the Battle of Cedar Creek on October 18, 1864.  This disc was also recovered near the Battle of Cedar Creek.  Hill survived the battle and was discharged October 2, 1865.   He received a disability pension for diarrhea in 1891.  He died May 30, 1930 

Brass disc: 

"S. J TITUS / CO. B. / 6. / RRG. / VT. VOL. / WEST FAIRLEE "  Reverse:  "WAR OF 1861” / eagle / “UNITED STATES"

Private Spears J. Titus enlisted Sept. 30, 1861 in the 6^th Vermont Infantry, Co. B.  He fought the full struggle and mustered out after the surrender, June 26, 1865.  After Gettysburg the regiment was active in the pursuit of the retreating Confederate forces, campaigning in Maryland .  The regiment fought valiantly at Funkstown , Maryland , July 10, 1863.  The disc was found west of Boonsboro , Maryland , which is a short distance from Funkstown and was probably lost during this period.

Each of these men acquired a metal identification device so that when they marched into battle they had some confidence that they would not be forgotten.  Little did they know that over 140 years later, we can still hear them say, “ Remember Me. ”

The Old Court House Civil War Museum is located in Old Town Winchester, Virginia at 20 N. Loudoun on the walking mall.  Consult the webpage for hours and directions:  www.civilwarmuseum.org.

Article published:  "Crossroads to History"