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A Stonewall Jackson 1864 Medal
BillJones
Posts: 33,487 ✭✭✭✭✭
I had been looking at these pieces at the shows for a year or so. Finding one is not very hard, but many of the pieces that are offered have marks, especially rim problems from what I have seen. I was therefore happy to locate this one in an auction, with the added bonus that it came in what I presume to be the original box.
It looks as if the piece has been stored in this box for a long time. As a result it has a very pleasing layer of toning which makes it look like silver although the piece is made of white medal. It also has very few handling marks, which is an added bonus. I probably paid too much for it, but given that it came with the box and that the state of preservation is well about average, it pleases me.
This piece was commissioned by a southern gentleman, Charles Augustus Lafayette Lamar. Charles Augustus Lafayette Lamar was a colorful character. His general attitude was that a gentleman had the right to do what he pleased even if it was against the law. That philosophy would guide his life.
In 1858 Lamar outfitted a slave ship, the Wanderer, and used it to transport 409 Africans from the African Slave Coast to America. The importation of slaves had been against the law since 1808, but that did not matter to Charles Lamar. He landed them on Jekyll Island and was prepared to put them up for sale. In 1859 Lamer was charged and put on trial. During his trial he challenged one of the witnesses to a duel, and bailed out one of the defendants so that he could attend a party. Lamar was convicted of his crime, was fined $500 and placed on a 30 day house arrest. The trial made national headlines.
Charles Lamar had advocated secession long before it became popular in the South. Therefore it was no surprise when he joined the Confederate Army in 1862 and formed a mounted rife unit, the Lamar Rangers. In 1863 Lamar took some time off from his military duties to represent the State of Georgia in France. While in France Lamar heard about the death of Stonewall Jackson after the Southern icon was wounded by friendly fire at the Battle of Chancellorsville.
Lamar commissioned Parisian medalist, Armand Auguste Caque, to make the dies and have about 1,000 medals stuck. Lamar's plan was to award a medal to each of the officers and men who served in Jackson's "Stonewall Brigade." Caque was the official medalist to the French king, which give this piece a quasi official sanction from the French Government. One of the problems that the Union side faced during the war was the possible recognition of the Confederacy by England and France. This piece would be the only official Confederate States of America medal.
The medals were not ready when Lamar set out for home, and he had to leave without them. They were delivered in 1864, but by then Savannah, Georgia was in Union hands, and they were delivered to Wilmington, North Carolina instead. From there they eventually found their way into a Lamar cotton warehouse where they sat for many years. Charles Lamar was killed at the end of the war in April of 1865. He was the last well known southern gentlemen to die during "The Cause."
The medals were discovered in 1894. At that time it was too late to award them to the members of the Stonewall Brigade. They were donated to the Ladies' Auxiliary of the Confederate Veterans Association, which sold them for $1 each with proceeds used for the benefit of disabled veterans. From there they have become a somewhat popular collector's item, which has begun to receive more attention from the numismatic community.
Retired dealer and avid collector of U.S. type coins, 19th century presidential campaign medalets and selected medals. In recent years I have been working on a set of British coins - at least one coin from each king or queen who issued pieces that are collectible. I am also collecting at least one coin for each Roman emperor from Julius Caesar to ... ?
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Looking for Top Pop Mercury Dime Varieties & High Grade Mercury Dime Toners.
Website-Americana Rare Coin Inc
BillJones, Is it silvered white metal and is it possible to see a photo of the outer sides of the original issued holder
very cool...............
Worry is the interest you pay on a debt you may not owe.
'
as an aside, there's a interesting non fiction book on the sub. The Wanderer, by Eric Calonious. sp? Reads like a novel but full of Civil War history, southern culture and drama!
for example, the Wanderer was actually a 118' luxury private yacht purchased from the NY Yacht club, and retro fitted as a slave ship to covertly smuggle the live contraband, disguised as a pleasure boat!
<< <i>very cool...............
Love original diapers!
- Marcus Tullius Cicero, 106-43 BC
<< <i>The Wanderer, by Eric Calonious. sp? Reads like a novel but full of Civil War history, southern culture and drama! >>
"Wanderer" was the way the ship's name was spelled in 100 Greatest American Medals and Tokens and in other sources.
We'll use our hands and hearts and if we must we'll use our heads.
I think there would be a much larger market for these if the portrait were based off his "Chancellorsville portrait" and has the correct dates and battles.
I've been wondering if you should take your collected writings and images and turn them into a book or website