Brass Star & Crescent

[RCR001]

Re: Brass Star & Crescent

KGC. I'll be danged. May be.

I ain't saying it ain't so, but it most certainly is the badge / symbol representing the US Army, VII Corps, Department of Arkansas.

http://usarmyinsigniahomepage.110mb.com/corps1.html

How/When/Why modern day reenactors wear it is a mystery. I'm pretty sure most wear it cause the figure the boys wore it. I'm just as sure, hardly any of 'em know why.

Has anybody ever seen a real one? I don't mean a $10 replica. I'm talking about an honest to goodness piece of American history. An antique. What do you reckon a real one would cost in this modern day era of made in china junk?

[rebjeb04]

Re: Brass Star & Crescent

I've seen a few fellows fashion them out of Mexican silver reales dated pre and post war. The key is grind and polish the dated side smooth if it is not pre-war. On the smooth side trace the design on the silver with fine point sharpie. Using a dremel tool you can drill the inner star points and places where the star touches the moon. "Connect the dots" so to speak with the dremel cutter wheel attachment and do the finish work with needle files. This is just a way to DYI a more correct insignia which you would have to get a jeweler attach a bar style pinback for attaching to clothes. The reales can be found on ebay for 20-40 bucks. One other issue is the direction the star is pointed. Several Confederate examples which have been listed already here, have the star pointed to the inside center of the crescent. The federal version mostly found at sutler row vendors, the star is pointed outside the crescent.
Hope this helps

[rogue]

Re: Brass Star & Crescent

No rebil, and not brass, but here is a real one, from a Minnesota soldier, and fashioned from a silver quarter dollar US coin in much the same fashion as outlined above, minus the Dremel tool.
S.Sullivan

[RCR001]

Re: Brass Star & Crescent

I believe this man knows of what he speaks.

KGC. Interesting..

That still don't tell me why so many of them have ended up on hats out here on the frontier. Does it? There weren't no Knights of the Golden Circle operating in the western counties of Missouri during the War. If there was, they got burned out and exterminated by federal soldiers from Kansas, Iowa and Illinois. And Minnesota.

How'd they end up on these rebel hats out here?

[Michael Comer]

Re: Brass Star & Crescent

It really doesn't matter how they ended up on reenactors or need to be discussed here. It is a farbism based on nothing but reenactors wanting to wear them. Same as kilted bagpipers playing Amazing Grace on sutler row and all the other garbage one sees at many events. I believe this has been covered and I'm going to close it.