PART V. DOCUMENTARY BACKGROUND ON THE MEDAL OF HONOR Key to the Story of the Medal of Honor [From the Army Medal of Honor Book, 1948] The purpose of the Key to the Story of the Medal of Honor is to preserve and make accessible to the public the basic source material for research in the history of the Army Medal of Honor. When the history of the Medal of Honor was commenced on November 12, 1946, there existed no documentation of the subject in the proper sense of the term, and a major phase of the project has been the search for the basic source-materials concerning the inception and evolution of the decoration. The documentary material presented in the following pages is divided into two sections: a calendar of letters, other unpublished documents, and the texts of certain Congressional hearings, Statutes, Regulations, General Orders, etc.; and a bibliography of all other printed materials relating to the decoration. The descriptions have been chronologically arranged by the dates of the documents. CALENDAR OF MEDAL OF HONOR DOCUMENTS During the Civil War and in the years immediately thereafter, sundry letters, War Department Orders, and related papers concerning the early history of the Army Medal of Honor were laid before Congress and placed on file in the War Department, reference being made to them only occasionally in the records of the Congress or the Department. These papers included letters between the War Department and the United States Mint in Philadelphia, General Orders published by various Army headquarters in the field, credentials submitted to the War Department in support of recommendations made concerning the Medal, lists of Medal winners, and descriptions of medal-presentation ceremonies. These letters, orders, and related papers have been found within the War Department proper, in the records contained in the National Archives, in the Library of Congress, and in depositories of information in Philadelphia, New York, and elsewhere. Some were found in widely scattered sources such as contemporary newspapers, "recollections," and "diaries": others in "War of the Rebellion Records" where they are mixed promiscuously with other materials without any reference to dates or circumstance. After much study and labor, copies of these papers have been brought together in proper order and chronologically arranged as now printed. Although this is called a "Calendar" and is in part a (1111) Calendar in the usual sense of a résumé of the contents of documents, nevertheless for a number of hitherto unpublished documents the full text is reproduced. Inasmuch as the Navy Medal of Honor was the first to be established, the Calendar which follows commences with the correspondence between the United States Mint in Philadelphia and Secretary of the Navy Gideon Welles in Washington, D.C. Forty-one documents relative to the history of the bestowal of the Medal of Honor during the Civil War are published in 22 of the volumes of the "War of the Rebellion Records." For the purposes of present study "Rebellion Records" has been accepted as a primary source, inasmuch as the documents selected for publication therein were chosen on the basis of an examination of the records of every company, battery, regiment, brigade, division, corps, and army of the Union Army and the records of geographical military departments and divisions, including the files of the War Department and all of its bureaus. "Rebellion Records" were based upon search of these records by experts who were well qualified for the duty by reason of their service in the Army and the War Department. These volumes are available in larger libraries throughout the United States. CALENDAR Dec. 9, 1861-U.S. Congress. The Congressional Globe, p. 26. "In Senate . . . Bills introduced . . . Mr. Grimes asked, and by unanimous consent obtained, leave to introduce a bill (S. No. 82) to further promote the efficiency of the Navy; which was read twice by its title, and referred to the Committee on Naval Affairs, and ordered to be printed." This marks the inception of legislation concerning the Medal of Honor. The bill introduced later by Senator Wilson (see below, under February 17, 1862) was the first legislation regarding the Army Medal. Čoncerning the circumstances surrounding the sponsorship of the Navy Medal of Honor, see William Salter's The Life of James W. Grimes. 1876. pp. 161-163. Dec. 21, 1861-U.S. Laws, Statutes, etc. An Act to further promote the efficiency of the Navy. 12 Stat. 329-330: "SEC. 7. And be it further enacted, That the Secretary of the Navy be, and is hereby, authorized to cause two hundred 'medals of honor' to be prepared, with suitable emblematic devices, which shall be bestowed upon such petty officers, seamen, landsmen, and marines as shall most distinguish themselves by their gallantry in action and other seamanlike qualities during the present war, and that the sum of one thousand dollars be, and is hereby, appropriated out of any money in the Treasury, for the purpose of carrying this section into effect." Dec. 30, 1861-Welles, Gideon, Secretary of the Navy. Letter to James Pollock, Superintendent of the U.S. Mint, Philadelphia. Source : Philadelphia Mint. Filed: National Archives. "NAVY DEPARTMENT, Dec. 30, 1861. "SIR. A recent act of Congress a copy of which is enclosedAuthorizes the Secretary of the Navy to have two hundred medals of honor prepared with suitable emblems and devices to be bestowed on such petty officers, seamen and marines as shall most distinguish themselves by their gallantry in action etc. during the present war, and appropriates $2,000 for the purpose. "In carrying out the object expressed, the Department would be glad to have your assistance. Your experience in such matters will enable you to give it such data, with regard to the character of the medal that can be gotten up for the sum appropriated, as will enable it to act understandingly. And if you, or any one connected with the establishment under your charge, can suggest an appropriate design for the medals of honor, the Department would be under obligations. It would also be glad if you would suggest a suitable person to engrave the dies after the design for a medal shall have been adopted. "I am very respecty, GIDEON WELLES," "To The Superintendent of the U.S. Mint, Philadelphia." Jan. 4, 1862-Pollock, James, Director of Philadelphia Mint. Letter to Gideon Welles, Secretary of the Navy, Washington, D.C. Source: Philadelphia Mint. Filed: National Archives. "MINT OF THE UNITED STATES, Philada. Jan. 4, 1862. "SIR: Your letter of the 30th ulto. in relation to the preparation of two hundred 'medals of honor', under an Act of Congress Approved Dec. 21, 1861, entitled 'an Act to further promote the efficiency of the Navy' has been received. "Designs for the medal in question, are in course of preparation at this institution, and will be finished and enclosed to you in the early part of next week, with my views as to the character of the proposed medal, engraving of dies, etc. The medals can be prepared here at an expense within the appropriation of $2,000. "Very Respectfully "Your obedient servant, "Hon. GIDEON WELLES, "Secretary of the Navy, Washington City." "JAS. POLLOCK, "Director of the Mint." Jan. 7, 1862-Welles, Gideon. Letter to James Pollock. Source: Philadelphia Mint. Filed: National Archives. Suggests a medal in the shape of a cross, with "three ribbonsthe red, white, and blue". Jan. 11, 1862-Pollock, James. Letter to Gideon Welles. Source: Philadelphia Mint. Filed: National Archives. "... Designs (including one in the shape of a cross) for the 'medals of honor, will be transmitted to you on Tuesday next, the 14th inst, until which time we must claim your indulgence.. Jan. 14, 1862-Pollock, James. Letter to Gideon Welles. Source: Philadelphia Mint. Filed: National Archives. Encloses three suggested designs. Jan. 15, 1862-Longacre, James B., Engraver, U.S. Mint, Philadelphia. Source: Nat. Archives. War Dept. AGO 8847.A (EB)—1882. Memorandum describing outline drawings of one of the designs. Jan. 20, 1862-U.S. War Department. Letter to Wilson and Sons, Silver Smiths, Philadelphia. Source: Nat. Archives. War Dept. AGO 8847.A (EB)-1882. Unsigned note declining an offer by Wilson & Sons to manufacture Medals of Honor as "arrangements have already been made." Feb. 13, 1862-Welles, Gideon. Letter to James Pollock, Source: Philadelphia Mint. Filed: National Archives. "... The Department begs leave to remind you of your promise to have other designs of 'medals of honor' prepared; and to ask if I may soon expect them. . ." Feb. 17, 1862-Pollock, James. Letter to Gideon Welles. Source: Philadelphia Mint. Filed: National Archives. Encloses two additional designs. Also, in this letter, Pollock refers to Welles' statement that $2,000 has been appropriated for manufacture of the medals, and points out that the act appropriates only $1,000. ". . . The .. amount would not be sufficient to cover the expenses of preparing 200 medals of gold, in a creditable style..." In the postscript: "I fear that $2,000 will not be sufficient to get up 200 medals in gold of proper finish. We might prepare 50 in gold and 150 in silver for that amount." Feb. 17, 1862-U.S. Congress. The Congressional Globe. Feb. 17, 1862. p. 841. "In Senate Notice of a Bill... Mr. Wilson of Massachusetts, gave notice to his intention to ask leave to introduce a bill to authorize the President to distribute medals to privates in the Army of the United States who shall distinguish themselves in battle." Feb. 20, 1862-Wilson & Sons, Silver Smiths, Philadelhpia, Pa. Letter to Mr. Edw. Stanton, Secretary of War, Washington. Source: Nat. Archives. War Dept. AGO 8847.A (EB)—1882. "We notice that silver medals are to be awarded to our Brave Soldiers under a resolution of Congress passed a few days since. We write to say that we are very desirous of submitting a proposition to prepare these medals, and to that end we are now engaged in preparing designs for the same." Note: The resolution referred to was introduced into the Senate on Feb. 17, 1862 (see above), but was not passed until May 13, 1862. There is no source to indicate the foundation for the assumption that the medals were to be made of silver. March, 1862-The Mitchell Raid. For documents see National Archives. War Dept. AGO 3313—A (EB)—1879. Apr. 17, 1862-Pollock, James. Letter to E. M. Stanton, Secretary of War, Washington, D.C. Source: Philadelphia Mint. Filed: National Archives. Pollock opens correspondence with War Department, noticing that a resolution has been introduced which, if it becomes law, will allow the Army to have a Medal of Honor. He encloses an impression in soft metal and offers the facilities of the Mint for production of a medal. May 6, 1862-Pollock, James, Director of the Mint, Philadelphia. Letter to Gideon Welles, Secretary of the Navy, Washington, D.C. Source: Philadelphia Mint. Filed: National Archives. Enclosing two additional designs and stating his own preference for the first one. |