Page 51 - January1948

NATIONAL BUTTON BULLETIN 49

PICTORIAL MILITARY HISTORY
The pictorial military history which we present here was compiled by the
late col. Daniel stevens, the first president of the Arnerican Buttonists society
at the turn of this century. There has been a legrouping of cuts but the
sequence and text are the same.
For the many cuts, which enabled us to use this material .we are indebted
to Nlajor H. w. williams, Jr. of washington, D. c., whose collection includes
all of col. stevens, together with adriitional material assembled by several
of his relatives and himself.
-{[rF)RrcAN MTLTTARY BUTaoNs oF THE REvor,urroNARy pDR,rot)

July 5, 1775, the Massachusetts Provincial Congress resolved, that the
cornmittee of supplies "are to cause all the coats to be buttoned with pewter
buttons and that the coats for each Regiment, respectively, have buttons of
the same number stamped on the face of them." The first two illustrations
above show the sarne button when new and in its present condition, after
having remained under ground for over one-hundred years.
The third button was prescribed for the 1st pennsylvania Regiment,
Col. DeHaas, and for the Armed Boats of Pennsylvaria in 1??5.

This button was used on the unifolm of col. Benjamiu Flower's Artil-
lery, in 1779, and in all probability by other troops. Those nrade for oflicers
were pewter.front,-wood. back, with gut string to sew it to the garnent; a
common method of rnaking buttons at that pe|iod in England uid l...ur,"e.
we show hcle, the tlont, back and side of the cornposite button in the fil.st
three specinrens The fourth specimen is a solid pewter button.

ln 1779, the first button shown above, was used bf' Capt. Scott's Col)l-
pauy' of Gen. Putnam's Division, and it was afterwards adopted by the regu-
lal arrny and continued in use until after the War of 1812.
The second button is that of the 1st Connecticut Reginent and the hand
nrold for making them is in the collectiou of Col. Daniel Stevens, at Bristol,
R. I.*
- - 'rh-is mold is now in the collection of -\lajor I{. .w. \yilli?rn}s.