Civil War Medal of Honor

[BLUEHAWK]

Originally Posted by Tamaroa

Little known fact about the Medal of Honor. During the Civil War, one sure way to receive one was to capture a Confederate Battle Flag. and also if you were in the 27th Maine, all you had to do was to reenlist til the end of the war.

At any rate, after the war, a board was convened that recalled roughly 910 Medals of Honor because it was deemed that the awardees did not meet the criteria set forth. I was very fortunate to se see an original Medal of Honor that was not recalled in Rockalnd County about 15 years ago. It was on display at the Pearl River Public Library. The medal had been awarded to Richard Smith, 95th NY Infantry, of Haverstraw for capturing two officers and 20 men from Hagood's Georgia Brigade during the Battle of Weldon's Railroad in 1864. The medal was suspended from a green roibbon. I had never seen that before. I was told that was because, it was one of the originals that had not been recalled.

As always, fascinating information there Tam!