Here's one decent place to begin: Francis A. Lord, _Civil War Collector's
Encyclopedia: Arms, Uniforms, and Equipment of the Union and Confederacy_
(5 vols) Blue and Grey Press, 1963-1995. Available in two huge
compendiums, vols 1-2 and vols 3-5.

There are many other sources people rely on, but Lord is a good starting
point. For instance, the button you describe below, according to Lord vol.
1 p. 63, is a US staff button (as opposed to infantry, artillery, cavalry,
dragoons, engineers, etc.).

I'm sure there are many faults in Lord, but it's a standard source that's
been around for quite a while with periodic updates.

I hope this helps somewhat.

-Doug

........................................
Doug Lantry
The Ohio Historical Society
Statehouse Education and Visitors Center
Columbus, Ohio
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On Tue, 4 Aug 1998, Christen E. Runge wrote:

> At 11:05 AM 8/3/1998 -0700, you wrote:
> >I was hoping that someone would be able to help me with my research -
> >I need a good source of information to help me identify and date US
> >military buttons, insignia and medals from the last century.
>
> Actually I could use such a resource as well.
>
> I'm assisting in the conservation of artifacts excavated from a Civil
> War-era military complex's privy. We've got lots of metal buttons and lots
> of leather bits (Boots? Horse tack?).
>
> In particular, we have many "eagle buttons" which are dome-shaped with a
> wire shank. Raised design on face: eagle with outspread wings and open
> mouth, feet clutching arrows and olive branch, striped shield covering its
> body. We have these in two or three sizes.
>
> I know there are lots of good books about Civil War military regalia and
> paraphernalia, but I don't know which are *good* resources for artifact
> identification. Any reviews of resources are appreciated, including websites.
>
> Christen Runge
> Conservation Assistant, Alexandria Archaeology
> Office of Historic Alexandria
> Alexandria, Virginia
> [log in to unmask]
>