Maine "Burnside" Eagle Plate
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Item: Maine "Burnside" Eagle Plate
Description: Raised eagle clutching arrows and an olive branch in its talons on a plain field.
Use: Eagle plates, also known as breast plates, shoulder belt plates, and cross belt plates, were displayed on the belt that held the soldier's cartridge box. Eagle plates with two belt attachment loops were purely ornamental and proudly worn by Union soldiers with the belt slung over the shoulder and across the chest. See the additional images in this listing for an image showing its use.
Construction: Stamped thin sheet brass with solder fill, and iron attachment loops.
Condition: Good, excavated, loops missing. Its brass face has a pleasing taupe patina over a well-defined eagle that has a period shallow slash that extends from the 9:30 position of the rim across the eagle's lower neck area. Other than mild bending, both the rim and body of the plate are in good shape. The rear has a complete complement of pebbled solder. There are no cracks or repairs.
Recovered: Charles City County, VA.
Approximate size: 59 mm.
Reference: Images of similar Maine "Burnside" eagle plates are found in the following Civil War relic reference books:
- "American Military Belt Plates" by Michael J. O'Donnell and J. Duncan Campbell, second edition, on page 283, as plate 448.
- "Civil War Artifacts" by Howard Crouch, on page 189, item 4.
- "Field Guide to Excavated Federal Plates" by Daniel J. Peters on page 17.
- "Plates and Buckles of the American Military 1795-1874", by Sydney C. Kerksis on page 55.
- "Excavated Artifacts from Battlefields and Campsites of The Civil War" by Stanley S. Phillips on page 7, item 6.
See above page in additional images.
Comments: Maine eagle plates are the smallest size of the eagle plates and are much rarer to recover than regular size eagle plates. The detail on this example is excellent and finding another one of this quality may prove to be quite difficult. It is believed that the name "Burnside" was given to plates of this size by the early relic hunters during the 1950s who found quantities in the Wilderness where General Ambrose Burnside led his 9th Corps into an ambush in May of 1864. This excavated Maine "Burnside" eagle plate was acquired directly from the digger and it will be an excellent addition to any excavated Civil War accoutrement plate or general relic collection.
More...
In an article titled "Renaming the "Burnside" Plate", published in 1999 in North South Trader's Civil War magazine, Vol. XXVI, No. 6 Christmas Issue on page 49 by the late Mike O'Donnell, author of "American Military Belt Plates", O'Donnell suggests "...it's time to start calling these distinctive little eagle insignia plates "Maine" plates rather than "Burnsides"." This article is also found in the additional images.
- Product Code:
- PC10328
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