Fixed-tongue frame buckles were simple in design, strong, lightweight, easy to cast and finish, and were widely produced throughout the south. This is a nice variant using a channel in the frame that lightened them further and increased their strength, giving them the nickname of hollow-back or “gutter-back” frame buckles. They are often associated with Georgia troops and are still referred to as “Georgia frames” by many, but saw service in every theatre of the war. Keim illustrates several from Georgia and from Virginia. Mullinax shows a couple from Tennessee.

This one was found at Tyner’s Station, Tennessee, sometimes referred to simply as Tynerville or just Tyner, located on the East Tennessee, Virginia and Georgia Railroad, once about ten miles east of Chattanooga and now absorbed into the Chattanooga city limits as a neighborhood. Troops of Cleburne’s Division held the area, which was an important line of communication, eventually constructing four forts in the. It was reportedly the scene of some fighting as Bragg pulled back after Missionary Ridge and was also the site of a Confederate hospital and cemetery.

The central bar is cast in the same plane as the face of the frame and is flat, as is true also for the two fixed tongues, which are narrow and preserve good, slightly rounded tips. The inner corners of the frame are slightly rounded as well. The reverse, naturally, was not as well finished as the face and shows the rough signs of sand casting.

This is a good example of a typically Confederate belt buckle- essentially a “general service” plate. We often think of these as strictly infantry plates, but Keim (p. 202) illustrates a nice example still on its sword belt.  [sr][ph:L]

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