{"product_id":"civil-war-federal-infantry-buttons","title":"Civil War Federal Infantry Buttons, including Massachusetts Volunteer Militia","description":"\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eUpdated on September 24, 2026:\u003c\/strong\u003e This has been sold.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003chr\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cmeta charset=\"utf-8\"\u003e\u003cspan\u003eThree Civil War buttons housed in a Riker case. \u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cspan\u003eA striking Massachusetts Volunteer Militia button retaining bright gold gilt, marked on reverse \"Wm H Smith New York\".  Dated: 1855 - 1861\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cspan\u003eA dug Union infantry button with traces of gold gilt and the shank is present, marked Horstmann \u0026amp; Sons Philadelphia. Dug at Petersburg, Virginia. Dated: 1854 - 1863\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cspan\u003eA smaller dug Union button, with shank, found on the Franklin Battlefield.  (This is nearly unrecognizable and I've included it because these were offered as a set, but it's the other two that are of real interest.)\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eDating these buttons\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cspan\u003eHere's what I found from research online:\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eMassachusetts Volunteer Militia\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\"The presence of front gilding (a gold wash) indicates this button was manufactured for an officer's uniform or a high-quality militia dress coat. Standard enlisted men often wore plain brass buttons, while gilded buttons were designed to stand out.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\"A stamped flat backmark (also known as an impressed or plain flat mark) on a William H. Smith button points directly to the earlier period of his production, typically dating from the 1850s to the very early Civil War (1861)\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\"A flat-stamped MVM button likely outfitted a member of the Massachusetts Volunteer Militia during the highly active pre-war years. This was a time when localized militia groups across the state were heavily training and upgrading their uniforms as national tensions escalated.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\"Because it dates to this transition period, it signifies a button that was part of Massachusetts' independent state-purchased uniform contracts, rather than the mass-standardized Federal supplies issued later in the war.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\"Flat-stamped W.H. Smith marks on state militia buttons are significantly rarer than his later wartime channel-stamped versions.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\"Given these details, the button can be confidently attributed to an independent Massachusetts Volunteer Militia uniform contract from roughly 1855 to 1861. It would have been worn by a militiaman during the critical pre-war build-up or by an early-war volunteer heading south to answer President Lincoln's initial call for troops in 1861.\"\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eThe Union button with traces of gold gilt\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\"The combination of horizontal lines in the shield on top (representing the blue field of the flag) and vertical lines on the bottom (representing the red and white stripes) tells us this is the classic United States Army standard issue design. It was adopted in 1854 to replace individual branch letters for common soldiers, creating a streamlined look for infantry, cavalry, and artillery alike.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\"The raised mark in a depressed channel (RMDC) is the ultimate diagnostic feature for mid-19th-century buttons. The fact that the letters are literally 3D raised metal sitting inside a stamped circular \"ditch\" strongly confirms a manufacturing date from the 1850s through the Civil War. Post-Civil War buttons shifted away from this labor-intensive process to flat-stamped text.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\"Combined with the abbreviated \"PHI\" (Philadelphia) mark from W.H. Horstmann \u0026amp; Sons, this button can be confidently dated between 1854 and 1863.\"\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e \u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cspan\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eSize:\u003c\/strong\u003e 4.5\" x 5.5\"\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eShipping: \u003c\/strong\u003e$15. Please allow two weeks for shipping.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"The History List","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":52717543457070,"sku":"RARE-FINDS-CIVILWAR-BUTTONS","price":0.0,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":false}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/1185\/2944\/files\/rare-finds-civilwar-buttons.webp?v=1790252070","url":"https:\/\/store.thehistorylist.com\/products\/civil-war-federal-infantry-buttons","provider":"The History List","version":"1.0","type":"link"}