#162-CIVIL WAR SALE: ORIGINAL BRASS UNION SOLDIER ID DISC (UNOFFICIAL DOG TAG!)

Many collectors are unaware that there were NO official government dog tags issued or in existence during the Civil War. Many soldiers purchased a variety of such tags on their own--some after the war to engrave with the battles in which they fought, others during the war aware that the number of battlefield injuries and deaths were incredibly large.

One can walk through Civil War cemeteries today and see many graves marked with headstones reading "5 Unknown Union Soldiers," "10 Unknown Confederate Soldiers," and so on. While it's morbid, it still was important and soldiers wanted to be identified, when they were among hundreds or thousands of soldiers wounded in a single battle, and likewise, killed in such high numbers.bhh093 Friends promised each other that they would make sure families were notified of their fate in battle and do their best to have their remains sent home. Battlefield embalmers, sadly, were common and did a very brisk business!

This is one of two (different) examples of these privately issued "dog tags."

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