Confederate North Carolina "Sunburst" Coat Button, dug at Spotsylvania

This is another nice piece being offered, it is a Confederate North Carolina coat button, measuring 23mm. It has the seven-pointed raised star or "sunburst" on a stippled field with border. The raised letters "NC" are in the center on a lined field within a raised ring.

The construction is a low convex, one-piece. It has a blank backmark without shank. The majority of these North Carolina sunburst buttons are recovered without their shanks. This is primarily due to its non-footed shank having been spot brazed or soldered to the button's rear resulting in a fragile design. This button was recovered years ago at the Spotsylvania Battlefield.

After the Battle of the Wilderness in 1864, Grant’s and Meade’s advance on Richmond by the left flank was stalled at Spotsylvania Court House on May 8. This two-week battle was a series of combats along the Spotsylvania front. The Union attack against the “Bloody Angle” at dawn, May 12-13, captured nearly a division of Lee’s army and came near to cutting the Confederate army in half. Confederate counterattacks plugged the gap and fighting continued unabated for nearly 20 hours in what may well have been the most ferociously sustained combat of the Civil War.

This button is in very good, excavated condition, even though the shank is missing. It has an even dark patina. The button has no bends, cracks, or repairs. Reference TICE NC242A1 and ALBERT NC16.