Post 9/11/ 2001,
An event had been prearranged to occur at a local park. We had a battle, in which I cause a rebel officer to "take a hit" and he rewarded me after with a $10 rebel note (which I still possess), and I was also wounded and participated in a field surgery demonstration. By night fall we had a concert of period music, complete with a stage and a "unification" ceremony, where both yankee and rebel came together to mourn and commemorate the loss of those of the terrorist attacks just a few weeks earlier. Needless to say the event was full of memorable parts.
One other part of the event stands out in my mind; it was also where I first learned of the existence of Civil War period dog tags. A fellow whose name I cannot recall, and whom I had never seen before this event, was set up in the federal camp with a sheet of pure lead. With it he was offering custom stamped dog tags where he would punch a disc out of the sheet and then push the desired text into it, complete with a hole to slide a leather string for wear around the neck. For years after, till my sweat and toil in the heat of summer events wore out the string, I adorned myself with this dog tag and even carved an American eagle into it for even further unique distinction. Little did I know, that over a decade later I would be providing dog tags myself to my fellow reenactors through my business.
Recognizing the demand for these tags I set out to research and determine what types I could acquire, reproduce, and resell at an affordable price. With time my catalog grew and today I am the only seller of such reproduction pieces. That is just the story as to how I came to know and eventually be the provider of civil war dog tags, but the history of course is equally fascinating.
The Book: Identification Discs of Union Soldiers in the Civil War by Larry P. Maier and Joseph P. Stahl is the bible equivalent of this topic. I was able to find and read a copy when starting my business and the story of the dog tag is quite "American" to say the least. (Note: Dog Tag is a WWII term as soldiers were referred to as "Dog Faced.") The gist was that prior to the American Civil War, all soldiers were "unknown" if lost to war and this was across the world. Nowhere prior was such a concept of having soldiers wear something to identify themselves if they were to fall in battle apply. It seemed to be that the collected and popular idea was that soldiers were not likely to return from such conflicts and generally were pooled together in the memory of those who died from it. Suddenly, though the genius of someone who started the idea and sadly cannot be singularly identified, the concept was made. Take a coin shaped object and customize it with the name of the solder (also to include, most commonly, his unit, and home town as well) and sell it to those going off to fight the "War of 1861" as it was first referred to as it was intended to be short. Add to it that the US treasury was not yet well regulated at the time, so dies used for coins could be sold off or discarding and reused for such purposes, and as trader tokens were a form of currency amongst merchants of the day, it was not difficult to get the ball rolling on this idea. Soon a wide array of Bald Eagle faced discs were circulated and sold in person to the soldiers as they past through cities on the way to the battlefields of the South, or via sutlers assigned to follow the Army, or by mail order through the dozens of newspaper ads. Each year brought new designs as well. Images of popular generals, George Washingtons profile, slogans such as "Against Rebellion" and "For Union and Constitution," and even images of President Abraham Lincoln would adorn the men fighting in the great conflict.
Now not all soldiers were able to acquire these discs. Evidence shown in those discs that have survived to the modern day suggest soldiers of the eastern theater were more apt to wearing them as more have been found marked with the regiments of eastern army state regiments. However, and interestingly when the war ends, western troops who fought their way east until the war's conclusion, somehow acquired discs and wore them in commemorative photos taken to celebrate the war's ending where the soldiers are dressed in the finest uniform and have the disc pinned to their breast. Here is a good time to point out that the most common way to wear a disc at the time was from a hanger pin (of various types), upon the chest, and not as commonly around the neck as soldiers in later wars would do, but as these were more commonly lost due to the hardships of active duty (and are still being dug up and discovered to this day) around the neck wear would become more common place by the war's end.
Did Southern soldiers wear such discs? Nope. They never, for some reason grasped the concept, even though they were known of by confederate soldiers. Though one type is debated as having existed in the southern ranks. A dollar coin smoothed blank on one side and engraved with the wearer's information. Sadly, many of these have turned out fakes, but still have not been completely disproven as having been used, but just not to the extent that federal soldiers did.
As with many of my products, an ID Disc is an excellent why to add the cherry on top of your historical impression as it is a great way to educate the public on the history through a conversation piece and may even be made personal to the wearer or an ancestor.
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