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Identification tag


Because no identification tags were issued during the Civil War, many soldiers devised their own means to ensure that they would be identified if killed in battle. Slips of paper or cloth with the soldier’s name were pinned inside clothing; other times personal belongings were marked. Two types of manufactured identification were available for purchase. One, marketed by Harper’s Weekly, was a pin of gold or silver, which was inscribed with the individual’s name and unit. The other, pictured here, was a medallion made of lead or brass with a hole at the top so that it might be worn around the neck. Medallions could usually be purchased from sutlers who followed the armies and sold “luxury” goods to the soldiers.

This brass identification tag belonged to J. H. Whitney, Company G, 13th New Hampshire Volunteers. Whitney was mustered into service on August 9, 1862, in New Ipswich. He spent most of his three-year enlistment as a brigade teamster, detached from his regiment. Whitney was mustered out on June 21, 1865.


Division of the History of Technology, Armed Forces History
National Museum of American History, Smithsonian Institution
Behring Center
Bequest of Charles Bremner Hogg Jackson

 

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