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The Civil War Relicman,
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Winchester, Virginia
USA (changed hands 70 times in the Civil War!)
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This page updated March 01, 2008 |
The Ridgeway Civil War
Reference Archive
Pennsylvania buckles & plates
This is a sampling of relics collected by Harry Ridgeway over the years. This archive record is for educational purposes only. Some of the relics listed may be on display at the Old Court House Civil War Museum, Winchester Virginia, some are no longer owned by the author. None of the items listed in this section are for sale, please refer to the separate sales catalog for items that are currently offered.
All items listed are believed
to be authentic to the Civil War or as otherwise described.
Any excavated
relics have been recovered from private property with
owners permission.
This information is available for
research purposes, pictures may be used by permission only.
P1575
Pennsylvania Militia, Philadelphia Reserve Brigade "RB" 1862, oval
belt plate
Stamped brass, solder filled, arrow hooks. This buckle was issued to the
Philadelphia Reserve Brigade, which served with the 119th Pennsylvania Volunteer
Infantry. This buckle is rare as state insignia was seldom used for the
Pennsylvania units.
Nondug buckle, stamping is weak. Leather is very brittle, and broke where
the buckle is hooked to it.
Plate measures 56mm X 86mm (approx)
Ref: O'Donnell & Campbell plate 587
A note about the authenticity of this plate. I have gotten opinions
questioning the authenticity of this plate, I will address the issue here.
First, I believe that it is authentic. I direct the reader to six
published examples of this pattern, a buckle and boxplate in Kerksis, a buckle
and boxplate in O'Donnell, and this buckle and a boxplate on the Ridgeway
Archive section of this webpage. The plate is clearly die stamped, and
thin lead filled. The shrink spot in the middle is apparent in all other
examples of the buckle. The beveled arrow hooks match on all of the
examples. This example is a weak stamping. I would note variation in
all of the other examples as to the sharpness of the stamping. This is
most evident in the billowing sails of the ship and the shocks of wheat.
As more pressure was applied, the details of these shapes is apparent, as less
pressure is applied they become more rounded and less distinct. I would
note that there is a range of die stamping quality amongst the six examples,
this one is probably the weakest.
The plate is clearly die stamped and not cast, which means that if it is a
repro, either somebody made up a new die or used the old die after the
war. The later is possible, as the buckle shows poor workmanship.
However both O'Donnell and Kerksis noted this as wartime production, a
Philadelphia unit like this could well have gotten Horstmann to produce this
buckle for them as an emergency, Horstmann leaned on a small contractor to
produce the buckle. Many of Horstmann metal subcontractors produced sloppy
products, this is typical.
I would further note that this buckle is quite rare, it would seem that if this was made post war, either for the 1860's reconstituted militias, or as a battlefield tourist souvenir, it seems like the market would be flooded with them, which it is not. Further I would add that when I obtained this rig, the leather was stiff as a board, the buckle was very much stuck to the leather, and regrettably I broke it while transporting it. At the time, author Mike O'Donnell gave a strong endorsement, indeed my purchase at the time was contingent on a favorable opinion from him. I realize that today such opinions carry much less weight, but I do believe it to be valid in this case.
So I present the facts as I understand them, I stand behind this buckle, but have presented both sides of the argument.
P1576
Pennsylvania Militia, Philadelphia Reserve Brigade "RB" 1862 oval
boxplate
Stamped brass, solder filled. This plate was issued to the Philadelphia
Reserve Brigade, which served with the 119th Pennsylvania Volunteer Infantry.
This plate is rare as state insignia was seldom used for the Pennsylvania
units.
Beautiful boxplate, strike is unusually sharp, hooks intact.
Plate measures 57mm X 87mm (approx)
Ref: O'Donnell & Campbell plate 588
P1577
Philadelphia Home Guard, "PHG" oval belt plate
The Philadelphia Home Guard was a substantial unit that
mustered in at the start of the war and formed more than three regiments.
Stamped brass solder filled, arrow hooks, relatively tall plate.
Nondug plate, beautiful patina.
Plate measures 57mm X 88mm (approx.)
Ref: O'Donnell & Campbell, Plate 589