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Did 19th-century U.S. soldiers carry military ID cards?

by | Oct 23, 2010 | Inside History

mtrimble
Did 19th-century U.S. soldiers carry military ID cards, or their equivalent, as all military personnel do now? James Rowley Laingsburg, Michigan ID cards are a creation of the 20th-century Army. During the Civil War, soldiers often pinned a piece of paper onto their uniforms, containing their names and home addresses. Some also carried their last wills, but generally they had no other identification. At around that time, dog tags first came into use, and they were the best means of identific


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