Brass U.S. infantry officer’s “I” jacket button. Button retains shank; back mark is completely illegible. Relic is uncleaned and shows moderate surface oxidation.

Recovered from the Rose Farm by local resident and relic hunter John Cullison, who excavated the battlefield from 1935 to 1959, and sold this item to the Rosensteel Family collection of Gettysburg.

The Rose Farm was at the center of some of the fiercest fighting on the second day of the battle. The farm included the Stony Hill, the Rose Woods, and a twenty acre field where over 20,000 men engaged in brutal and often hand-to-hand combat leaving over six thousand killed or wounded. Ever since it has been known simply as The Wheatfield.

The stone walls of the farmhouse and barn provided shelter to the Confederates of Semmes' and Kershaw's Brigades, and the farm buildings were used as a Confederate field hospital. It is estimated that between 500 and 1,000 Confederate soldiers were buried on the property. Some of the most famous photographs after the battle were taken here by Alexander Gardner.

The stone farmhouse is still standing, but the barn is in ruins after being struck by lightning and burning down in 1910. The farm was in private hands until the 1950s, when it was acquired by the National Park Service.

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