Original Items: Only One Available. This is a pair of brass Confederate Infantry Coat "I" buttons that were dug just south of the Chickamauga Battlefield at Crawfish Springs in Northern Georgia.

The Battle of Chickamauga, fought on September 18 – 20, 1863, between U.S. and Confederate forces in the American Civil War, marked the end of a Union offensive in southeastern Tennessee and northwestern Georgia — the Chickamauga Campaign. It was the first major battle of the war fought in Georgia, the most significant Union defeat in the Western Theater, and involved the second-highest number of casualties after the Battle of Gettysburg.

The first Confederate infantry button is a lined "I" on plain background with border an English import marked Superior Quality on the reverse and retains an intact secure shank. The second button is somewhat flattened. It has a dark brown patina and appears to be a smooth I with smooth background and concentric rings on the reverse, shank is present but flattened.

Confederate Infantry tunic buttons are a favorite of Civil War collectors.

Civil War history at Crawfish Springs
In 1836, James Gordon and his brothers moved to Crawfish Springs from Gwinnett County, Ga. Between 1840 and 1847, slave laborers built Gordon’s brick mansion-known today as the Gordon-Lee Mansion-at the site of the Cherokee courthouse overlooking Crawfish Springs, which served as the main water supply for the town.

During the American Civil War, Union Gen. William Rosecrans and surgeon Glover Perin, the U.S. medical director for the Army of The Cumberland, decided to locate a federal hospital complex at Crawfish Springs.

“That summer was extremely dry, and the most reliable source of water in the area was from Crawfish Springs,” Ufford said.

Wounded and injured soldiers were cared for at the Gordon-Lee Mansion and its adjacent buildings during the bloody Battle of Chickamauga, which took place Sept. 19-20, 1863. Soldiers from both sides used Crawfish Springs as a primary water supply.

George H. Putney of the 37th Indiana Infantry Regiment was at Crawfish Springs on Sept. 19, 1863, and wrote this of the experience:

“After going some distance, we came to Crawfish Springs. There we were permitted to fill our canteens, which we gladly did, as we knew the importance of water in a bottle. What a beautiful spring of water that was and is! Think of going from that pure life-giving fountain of clear, cold water, springing up in great abundance, to a great and dreadful battle where smoke and dust and toil and wounds and death hold high carnival. That is war!”