St. George's Notes IV - Medals...
« on: July 04, 2004, 04:14:18 PM »
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A large number of folks are portraying Military men as well as Veterans of the Civil War, the Indian Wars and frequently both.
There are even those who portray members of the 1st Volunteer Cavalry - TR's "Rough Riders" - though there certainly seem to be far more "portrayers' than there were "originals" of that organization...
This brings up a point that needs to be made when creating your Impression.
The Wearing of Military Medals...
In essence - you don't get to wear any.
The Army of the pre-1900 time frame had the "Certificate of Merit" - a paper document given solely to Enlisted men and established in 1847, during the War with Mexico and issued until 1905.
The "Medal of Honor" - not the "Congressional Medal of Honor", by the way - was the country's first metallic decoration.
Originally created for the Navy on December 21, 1861, the Army followed with its variant six months later, on July 12, 1862.
Though differing in design and created by two separate Acts of Congress, Army and Navy Medals of Honor are usually referred to as "Medal of Honor" as if they were one decoration.
And this brings up another distinction - there are "Service Medals" and there are "Decorations".
"Service Medals" would be awarded for Campaign Participation, while a "Decoration" would be awarded for a specific act.
Going back - there are two Army Medals of Honor that could possibly be worn by your impression - the 1862-1896 design, with a "flag-styled ribbon" and the 1896-1904 design with a striped ribbon - the difference being the ribbon syle.
After the mass distribution of these medals during the Civil War a Board was held to determine their validity of issue and many were rejected.
More on that if it's warranted...
Read "A Shower of Stars" for an insight.
The various Campaign medals - while "neat" and attractive and more important - available - weren't authorized until well after the turn of the Century.
Army
Civil War Campaign - Authorized 11 JAN 05
Indian Campaign - Authorized 11 JAN 05
Spanish Campaign - Authorized 11 JAN 05
Spanish War Service - Authorized 9 JUL 18
Army of Cuban Occupation - Authorized 28 JUN 15
Army of Puerto Rican Occupation - Authorized 28 JUN 15
Philippine Campaign - Authorized 11 JAN 05
Philippine Congressional - Authorized 29 JUN 06
Navy and Marines
Civil War Campaign - Authorized 27 JUN 08
Spanish Campaign - Authorized 27 JUN 08
Philippine Campaign - Authorized 27 JUN 08
China Relief - Authorized 27 JUN 08(service from 1900 - 1901)
Now this isn't to say that you can't wear something on your uniform - because there are guys out there right now looking at studio portraits of be-uniformed men, bedecked with all manner of finery, and they're getting all worked up.
Slow down, Trooper...
The finery that you see are "Society Medals" - those medals that one would buy (and once in a great while, earn) from the Military Society or Veteran's organization that they happened to belong to later in life.
A lot of those photos are of GAR men.
There were all manner of Veteran's Badges available - from the "Ladder Badge" depicting on bars clasped together by rings - the Company, the numeric designator, the State and the type of unit - "Co. F" - "2d" - "Iowa" - "Vol Cav" - complete with a miniature of a Corps Badge suspended below, or maybe a bullion tassle.
Or perhaps a "Shield" - with the veteran's name above on the scroll and his unit-specific information suspended below.
There could be the traditional "GAR" badge or a more impressive one if you portray an Officer in that organization and as time went on almost every old vet got that chance, as the membership died off.
Then, there would be badges from the "Society Armies" - "The Society Army of the Tennessee" or of the "Cumberland" or "Potomac", or maybe the "Union Veteran's League", and even the "Military Order of the Loyal Legion of the United States" - an organization of ex-Union officers.
The South had the "United Confederate Veterans" - not as well-developed an organization as the GAR, but surely as powerful in Southern States.
For more - including pictures - see my articles in "North-South Trader's Civil War"- Vol XXII, No. 5, September-October 1995
These were all politically strong veteran's organizations - the fore-runners of our present American Legion and VFW and DAV, and membership was encouraged.
This was also a time of wide-spread Lodge membership and those had their badges that show up in photographs as well.
The point is - when developing your impression of a Military man or of a Veteran, you can do plenty to enhance it without resorting to temptation.
There are large numbers of original GAR/UCV items available that can be used in a lapel or on a watch fob.
There's even a flask that you can find once in awhile and it adds to your "look", and a lot of men carried (and enjoyed) a touch of the creature...
Good Luck!
Scouts Out!