Confederate Adjutant General button

The Civil War Relicman,
Harry Ridgeway

Winchester, Virginia USA (changed hands 70 times in the Civil War!)
I am a collector buying and selling authentic Civil War Relics

This page updated   December 24, 2009


The Ridgeway Civil War reference archive

You often hear collectors say, "I wish I could keep it all".  The collector in most of us really love this stuff, otherwise we would not be collecting.  However, the reality of budget, resources, space and display considerations, and evolving collecting interest, dictate that good relics be sold.  Often collectors will lament the relic that got away or the relic that should have been kept, we all have those stories to tell.  I have begun this project to compile an archive record of the noteworthy relics that I have handled.  My intention with this archive is to record the diversity of relics that I have handled, more or less one each of the relics, with the emphasis on differences between them and explanations of the sometimes subtle but significant differences that may exist.  

Some of the relics presented here have been retained in the Ridgeway collection, some have been sold in the past, and some may be offered for sale in the catalog section of the webpage.  However this is not a sale page, and this is not a price guide, so please do not ask me for prices for any of the relics listed in this archive.  The archive is intended to be an educational listing or explanation of the relics only.

It will also take some time to compile this listing, I have thousands of pictures in my archive.  As I find items to publish, I will add them to this page one at a time, I expect this project to take years.  However unlike the print media, I can add information piecemeal and I can correct mistakes as I go.  So if you don't see the relic you are looking for, please be patient.  However if you find any errors in my presentation, please inform me as accuracy and authenticity is of top importance in this effort.

And many of the relics shown in this archive are on display at the Old Court House Civil War Museum, in Winchester, do come visit.

All  items listed in this section are believed to be authentic to the Civil War or as otherwise described.   I have a separate section dealing with fakes, no fakes in this section, no authentic in the fakes section, that is my scheme.  Questioned items, or items under debate that could go either way, will be dealt with in the fakes section.  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.  All artillery shells are disarmed and inert.

All pictures on this website are the property of Harry Ridgeway, and relicman.com and are copyright protected by Federal law.  Pictures may be used with permission only.


Confederate buttons  


Federal buttons 
  


Button backs,  
BmScovillM17B.jpg (42336 bytes)BmBuckley01.jpg (30049 bytes)BmLewis01.jpg (31634 bytes)


Ridgeway Reference Archive, Buckles & plates, click here  
               


Ridgeway Reference Archive, Civil War artillery

click here for more information about artillery, research and comparison to other examples 


Soldier identified items
M0091B.jpg (31719 bytes) 


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