Button of Specific Militia Organization: NC254 {Albert’s NC 18} Exceptionally Rare Non-Excavated example, “The Hornets Nest Rifle Corps,” Charlotte; convex, two-piece. The Hornet’s Next Rifle Corps was designated Company B, of the 90 day1st Regiment of North Carolina Volunteers. Confederates nicknamed the 1st Regiment “The Bethel Regiment” in honor of service at the Battle of Big Bethel, Virginia. Private James Hudsonof the Hornet’s Nest Rifle Corps, who died of pneumonia, was the first North Carolina soldier to perish in Confederate service. Scovill manufactured two distinct variations of NC254in gilded, die-stamped sheet brass. One has initials “H.N.R.C.”above the hornet’s nest, while a single other example has the identical motif but with initials “N.C.” Collectors have excavated NC-254A examples from Virginia camps of the 1st North Carolina Regiment. Both variants measure 23mm and are of the two-piece convex construction. A. A device shows a hornet’s nest with the initials “H.N.R.C.” above. 23mm. A-1. “: SCOVILLS & CO : / WATERBURY”