Stamped brass uniform button with American eagle

Source catalog description

This description refers to material held by Smithsonian National Museum of African American History and Culture. Visual details below describe the original material.

This small brass button is stamped with the device of a spread eagle with shield holding an olive branch in his right claws and three arrows in his left claw. It is a standard small-sized general service button worn by a non-commissioned officer or enlisted man in the U.S. Army. According to U.S. Army historian Rod Gainer, the button was almost certainly made by the Scovill Manufacturing Company of Waterbury, Connecticut, based on the shape of the eagle’s wings.

Catalog date

1861-1865

Recorded subjects

African American; Clothing and dress; Military; Slavery; U.S. History, Civil War, 1861-1865

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