How did it get there?
 

I found a uniform button at an old confederate earth works site off of I-95 near Beaufort, SC. The button was about 20mm with the letters LA written in script in the middle, a #1 under the "LA", surrounded with 16 five pointed stars. After looking on the internet....as far as I can tell, it's from the 1st Regiment, U.S. Light Artillery (1808-1821)
I didn't think the War of 18 12 was fought in this area. What are your thoughts on how it got there. :confused:

http://www.history.army.mil/books/R&H/R&H-1Art.htm

I believe if you look in section 303 of this site you'll see the answer:

"The regiment was at first stationed at the posts in New York Harbor and on the New England coast, but after a service there of six years it was sent to the more southerly posts between Annapolis, Md., and Charleston, S. C., where it remained, though with many interchanges of station by the several companies, until January, 1836, when eight companies reached Florida, followed in October of the same year by the ninth."

There's a lot more on the site.