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Buttons made in the Confederacy
My position as medical director of the hospital of the Army and Dept of Tennessee gave me ample opportunities to see the operations of the various plants engaged in gathering and manufacturing supplies of every kind needed for the Confederate army and navy. While on inspecting tour in Columbus, Ga., in the winter of 1862-63, I was informed that wooden, horn, and bone buttons were being manufactured there, and I visited the plant. The factory was owned by a former Lt. Of the CS army who had lost an arm in one of the early battles. I regret that I cannot remember his name. He was the son of a wealthy planter in that vicinity. The motive power of his factory was an engine of moderate horse power that had been used to run a printing press. So complete were the saws, borers, and drying kilns that in the final process of their manufacture the completed buttons dropped into the hoppers with as much rapidity as nails from a nail-making machine. I asked the Lt. Where he learned the trade of button making, and he replied that he had never seen a button made by any machinery before he made them himself. Having been disabled, he determined to still do something in aid of the Confederate cause. The need of buttons suggested this enterprise and aroused his native ingenuity to a practical purpose. His plant, I was told, supplied the Confederate soldiers with wooden, horn and bone buttons for more than 2 years.
In the beginning of the War many of the gilt buttons worn by the officers were made in the shops of the Northern states; many were made in Europe, and found their way into the Confederacy through the blockade runners. I do not think that they were ever manufactured in any considerable number within the territory of the Confederacy. A set of gilt buttons was made to serve the purpose of ornamating successive uniforms worn by an officer. Gilt buttons, with letters and devices appropriate to the rank and arm of the service of the wearers, were prescribed by law.
Dr. S.H. Stout, Medical Director of Hospitals
I know not where they were made, but we certainly had them by the millions, all sorts and sizes. Some had the likenesses of Jeff Davis, Gen Johnston, Bragg, Price, and nearly all had the letters CSA. They were generally worn on the cap, with the letter or letters showing to what branch of service the wearer belonged.
Dr. C.S. Reeves, Lone Grove, Texas
I found these articles in the "Confederate Veteran" dated June 1897, Volume 5 Number 6.
Everett Taylor
My position as medical director of the hospital of the Army and Dept of Tennessee gave me ample opportunities to see the operations of the various plants engaged in gathering and manufacturing supplies of every kind needed for the Confederate army and navy. While on inspecting tour in Columbus, Ga., in the winter of 1862-63, I was informed that wooden, horn, and bone buttons were being manufactured there, and I visited the plant. The factory was owned by a former Lt. Of the CS army who had lost an arm in one of the early battles. I regret that I cannot remember his name. He was the son of a wealthy planter in that vicinity. The motive power of his factory was an engine of moderate horse power that had been used to run a printing press. So complete were the saws, borers, and drying kilns that in the final process of their manufacture the completed buttons dropped into the hoppers with as much rapidity as nails from a nail-making machine. I asked the Lt. Where he learned the trade of button making, and he replied that he had never seen a button made by any machinery before he made them himself. Having been disabled, he determined to still do something in aid of the Confederate cause. The need of buttons suggested this enterprise and aroused his native ingenuity to a practical purpose. His plant, I was told, supplied the Confederate soldiers with wooden, horn and bone buttons for more than 2 years.
In the beginning of the War many of the gilt buttons worn by the officers were made in the shops of the Northern states; many were made in Europe, and found their way into the Confederacy through the blockade runners. I do not think that they were ever manufactured in any considerable number within the territory of the Confederacy. A set of gilt buttons was made to serve the purpose of ornamating successive uniforms worn by an officer. Gilt buttons, with letters and devices appropriate to the rank and arm of the service of the wearers, were prescribed by law.
Dr. S.H. Stout, Medical Director of Hospitals
I know not where they were made, but we certainly had them by the millions, all sorts and sizes. Some had the likenesses of Jeff Davis, Gen Johnston, Bragg, Price, and nearly all had the letters CSA. They were generally worn on the cap, with the letter or letters showing to what branch of service the wearer belonged.
Dr. C.S. Reeves, Lone Grove, Texas
I found these articles in the "Confederate Veteran" dated June 1897, Volume 5 Number 6.
Everett Taylor