The first two sites tell about tags used by "hired-out" slaves in
Charleston, S.C. These, however, don't sound like what you have since
you didn't mention an occupation engraved on your tag and the Charleston
tags don't mention a date included.
The third site tells about the Charleston slave tags, but the "Relic Man"
also has much material about the Civil War as well. The fact that your
tag has "CSA" (probably initials for Confederate States of America) engraved
on it and has no occupation engraved on it leads me to believe that slaves
who fought in the Confederate army may have been issued such tags. The
year, 1863, definitely falls in the Civil War period. Perhaps the owner's
name and information was recorded and a number assigned to the slave who
would be returned to his master after the war was over. I'm just guessing
on this.
Many African-American soldiers fought with the Confederate Army in the
Civil War: Civil War Negro Soldiers. If African-American soldiers were issued tags such as these, and I've
not yet found a site which suggests this, they were certainly ahead of
the time. Dog tags were not being used yet, and the white troops were
supposed to keep an identification paper on their person in case of injury
or death. That plan didn't work too well because the Civil War graveyards
are full of unidentified soldiers. http://military.gabartow.org/cassvillecm.shtml
I hope this dab of information will help set you on a successful journey.
I would be very interested to learn what you find out. I will also keep
my eyes and ears open for more information. |
