SN belt buckle

[The True Guts and Glory]

I just saw a picture of a confederate reenactor wearing a belt and cartridge box with both US plates flipped to say SN. I know this may be a dumb question but is it truly authentic and is there really any documentation of soldiers wearing upside down plates like such?

Thanks!

[Silas]

Re: SN belt buckle

Here's a nice eight page thread on this very topic : http://www.authentic-campaigner.com/...ide-down/page1

Consensus was that there are no period accounts of the "Southern Nation" rationale frequently heard in the hobby by streamers everywhere, Confederates did sometimes wear it that way, sometimes they didn't, Federals also wore it that way, and finally that upside down buckles were not a common practice.

[Curt Schmidt]

Re: SN belt buckle

Hallo!

Welcome to the AC.

Before others post it...

Two general pieces of advice that will help you out. One, looking at reenactors for history can often be a hazardous undertaking because the level or degree of actual historical-based researcehd and documented stuff varies considerably.

And two, many time questions have already been asked and answered, and discussed, in the past. And saved in the archived SEARCH feature. For example:

http://www.authentic-campaigner.com/forum/showthread.php?10681-wearing-US-buckles-upside-down&highlight=upside+buckles

Curt

[Curt Schmidt]

Re: SN belt buckle

Hallo!

Sorry, typing at the same time...

:)

Curt

[cairnsy44]

Re: SN belt buckle



I may be wrong, but there is at least one exception, from this photo of a dead Confederate at Spottsylvania.

[Silas]

Re: SN belt buckle

Somerimes a belt buckle is jist a belt buckle. When the soldier in this famous photo buckled his belt that day, did he (1) intend to wear it upside down and, if so, did he (2) intend that it proclaim "southern nation"? I've not seen a period source which mentions a practice often found in mainstream reenacting.

Here's a link to a photo I've posted on the forum of an Illinois solder with his belt buckle upside down. http://www.authentic-campaigner.com/...4&d=1263346992 In his case it is highly unlikely he thought it meant southern nation.

[cairnsy44]

Re: SN belt buckle

I guess I misinterpreted something along the way. I also highly doubt it was meant to signify "Southern Nation." More likely that it was a useful buckle and that they wanted to avoid any representation of the side they were fighting against. I thought folks were saying Confederates did not wear US buckles upside down. sorry for the misunderstanding!

[NMVolunteer]

Re: SN belt buckle

I sincerely doubt the enemy commander is using field glasses to see belt buckles to determine whether the soldier standing a few hundred yards away is friend or foe. I think regimental standards and pre-battle reconnaissance are better identification aids. There are enough accounts and photographs indicating Confederates wearing captured Federal gear and blue-colored clothing that I do not understand why they would suddenly be self-conscious of a small chunk of brass.

[roundshot]

Re: SN belt buckle

While not about buckles per se, this reference to some "corporate" sanctioning of inverting captured Federal insignia is interesting:

"When the Confederate General Pettigrew's Negro cook was captured at Kinston, NC he was wearing a Federal dress coat. In explanation he told his Fedaral captors: 'I took it from one of your dead during the Peninsula Campaign and was allowed to wear it if I would turn the buttons with the eagle's head down.' And as a soldier of the 27th Massachusetts expressed it: 'Sure enough, every eagle drooped.'" [from Francis Lord's "Civil War Uniforms]