Broken Confederate Frame Buckle, dug at Culpepper, VA

This is another interesting piece being offered, it is an excavated broken Confederate Frame Belt buckle, measuring 2 ¼” x 2 ½”. This portion represents approximately one half of a complete buckle. There is an overall slight inward bend, and the tongue is no longer present. This buckle was recovered at Culpepper, VA.

On September 12, 1863, the Army of the Potomac's 10,000-man Union cavalry corps, under General Alfred Pleasonton, left camp near Warrenton, Virginia and crossed the Rappahannock River, where various elements concentrated near the hamlet of Sulphur Springs. Their objective was to attack Confederate General J.E.B. Stuart's headquarters at Culpeper Court House, the seat of Culpeper County.

Advancing in three columns, the Union troopers drove off scattered Confederate pickets and skirmishers. Near the main Confederate defensive line at 1 p.m., 1st Division commander General Judson Kilpatrick ordered a mounted charge by the Michigan Brigade of General George Armstrong Custer, which carried the Confederate position centered at the railroad depot. Custer seized more than 100 prisoners, as well as three artillery pieces. The three columns converged at Culpeper and continued their advance, driving the Confederates towards the Rapidan River in heavy skirmishing.

This frame buckle portion would have utilized either a "fork", "U", "single" or "double" tongue design. It would be interesting to know what tore this buckle apart. The brass has a pleasing light brown patina. There is no bright brass showing, including the areas of the two breaks which have the same patina as the rest of the buckle. There are similar examples of this buckle in “Confederate Belt Buckles & Plates” by Steve E. Mullinax (see pictures). This would make a great piece to any Civil War collection.