Weird wire in forage cap

[cjc]

At the Hartford city civil war reenactment in Indiana, I saw a little twisted wire in someone's forage cap. I kept on forgetting to ask him about it, so I am asking you guys. I have emailed some venders to see if it was part of the hat and they said it might be a wire from a friction primer for a cannon. They said some people like to stick them in their hat to commemorate the first time they fired a cannon. I think it is a pretty cool idea myself. It is on the chinstrap button so it seems like you might be able to hold a feather or Something in it.
Anybody have thoughts on this?

Caleb Courtney

[pvt_jb]

It's a reenactorism so I would strongly recommend not doing it. Sorry, but that is a strong sign of a farb.

[S.D.Swart]

It's a reenactorism so I would strongly recommend not doing it. Sorry, but that is a strong sign of a farb.

I totally agree. Big time reenactorism.

[FranklinGuardsNYSM]

Some have taken it to ridiculous extremes of ringing their hatcords with them to the point that they look like flamenco dancers; others have linked them to create something of a "helmet net." Don't let this happen to you.

[cjc]

thank you for your input. so you do agree that it is a cannon primer?

[Tom Scoufalos]

Almost beyond a doubt.

[huntdaw]

Yep, it's a primer and they were expendable to the real guys - not souvenirs to be displayed on headgear. I would imagine other soldiers would have laughed at them for that one actually.