A friend and I recently hunted an 1840’s -1850’s military campsite where I got my first chance to try out my new Minelab metal detector. During this hunt we found a couple of nice early military buttons as seen in my image. In fact the “V” button my hunting buddy found is an extremely rare find for Nebraska. The first one of these historically significant “V” buttons I had ever seen found was one I found in 1995 on this same site. The “V” stands for Voltigeurs and the "R" for Rifleman.
From Wikipedia:
The Regiment of Voltigeurs and Foot Riflemen was a one-year regiment of the United States Army raised during the Mexican-American War. It was active in 1847 and 1848.
At the beginning of the Mexican American War, Congress changed its policy of attempting to prosecute the war with the Regular Army and ordered nine new regiments: eight infantry and the Regiment of Voltigeurs and Foot Riflemen. The regiment was authorized on February 11, 1847 and the first officers, the colonel and the lieutenant colonel, were assigned on February 16, 1847.
The Regiment of Voltigeurs was not numbered. It was to be a special unit with half of its men to be mounted, the other half were to be on foot. The intent was to have each horseman paired with a foot soldier who was to get up behind him for rapid movements.
However this arrangement was never used, the Voltigeurs became a regiment of foot riflemen, armed with the muzzle-loading Model 1841 rifle. The same rifle as was used by the regiment of Mounted Riflemen.
From Wikipedia:
The Regiment of Voltigeurs and Foot Riflemen was a one-year regiment of the United States Army raised during the Mexican-American War. It was active in 1847 and 1848.
At the beginning of the Mexican American War, Congress changed its policy of attempting to prosecute the war with the Regular Army and ordered nine new regiments: eight infantry and the Regiment of Voltigeurs and Foot Riflemen. The regiment was authorized on February 11, 1847 and the first officers, the colonel and the lieutenant colonel, were assigned on February 16, 1847.
The Regiment of Voltigeurs was not numbered. It was to be a special unit with half of its men to be mounted, the other half were to be on foot. The intent was to have each horseman paired with a foot soldier who was to get up behind him for rapid movements.
However this arrangement was never used, the Voltigeurs became a regiment of foot riflemen, armed with the muzzle-loading Model 1841 rifle. The same rifle as was used by the regiment of Mounted Riflemen.
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