History of the Civil War

Soldiers in the First and Second World Wars, were unknown in the Civil War. Soldiers were concerned that their bodies would not be identified in the aftermath of a battle, so they would often pin a piece of paper bearing their name inside their uniform. Later in the War, various merchants and sutlers (itinerant suppliers who followed the armies, selling directly to the soldiers) began to sell tokens which could be stamped with a soldier's name and unit, and perhaps home town. With a hole drilled on one edge, they could be worn on a lanyard around the soldier's neck or attached to his clothing.

Tags like these have recently (late 2000 to early 2002) been sold on eBay for $500-700.

Many Civil War tags were made from old coins, stamped with the soldier's name - A.B. Miner's tag at right is one example of this kind of tag. It appears to be made from a foreign coin of some kind. (collection of webmaster Mike Brown)
The examples below are three tags, stamped "C.H. Smith, Co. K, 76^th Reg. N.Y.S.V., Springfield", and "E. J. Efner, Co. I, 76th Reg. N.Y.S.V., Middleburg", and "Geo. Moore, Co. A, 76th Reg. N.Y.S.V., Virgil". Given that the tags are nearly identical, it's probably safe to assume they were made by the same sutler.

	Photos of Erastus Efner's ID disk (above) by Don Chase, who notes, "I bought this tag at an outdoor market in Shupps Grove, PA in 1970 or 1971." Photo of Charles Smith's tag at left was sent by B. Conrad Bush, who wrote: The picture of the dog tag was made by Tom Turner, Granite City, Illinois. He had it in his collection as of Feb. 1998. He gave me the picture for my information on who C H Smith was.
	George Moore's dog tag (left) was offered for sale on eBay in February of 2002 by Robert Fernbacher, who said in the listing: "The 76th New York saw severe action in support of the Iron Brigade at Brawner's Farm on Aug. 28, 1862. There were 32 men killed and 75 wounded. Capt. Grover and two of the skirmishers were wounded. Private Moore found himself in one of the hottest parts of the Battle of Brawner's Farm when he along with 7 other men were picked by Capt. Andrew Grover to be skirmishers. Capt. Grover's men reached a rail fence about 50 yards ahead of the main line where they could hear the commands of the rebel officers in the distance. The skirmishers shouted back the rebel orders to the main line which in turn got relayed to Gen. Doubleday. The skirmishers were caught in the middle of the rebels and main line with firing coming from both sides. "
	For a picture of Allen Boyce see Images (A-N) For information on Allen Boyce, see Roster (B) Image contributed by a reader of this site.