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   Prior to the War Between the States, each state was considered a sovereign country.  As such, each state government had the responsibility of maintaining a military, in order to keep peace within and repel invasion from without its borders.  The well-known Palmetto pistols, swords, and muskets are examples of weapons purchased by the state for its state troop.

     The Accoutrement Waist Belt Plate pictured here falls into the same category.  It was purchased from the firm of Emerson Gaylord of Chicopee, Massachusetts, who also supplied accoutrements to the Southern States of Virginia, Maryland, Georgia, Alabama and Mississippi.  This is the largest and rarest of the S C Oval Plates.  Rare because it was the last style shipped south prior to Northern supplies being cut off.

     Surviving documentation shows that Gaylord was still making accoutrements for the South as late as January 27, 1861.  In fact, a shipment headed for the South was confiscated as late as the day Sumter fell.  These rare buckles are among the highest quality of the era, being lead filled, brass die stamps with brass hooks.

     This excavated example is very solid, but is missing two of the hooks and the third is pushed through the face.  This damage is not the result of deterioration, but rather from something very heavy such as a wagon wheel having run over it.

     This is the largest of the “SC” plates.  It has no restoration whatsoever and is just as it was recovered.