MEDALS & COINS, ARMS & ARMOUR

6th May 2020

14 | WOOLLEY & WALLIS All medals tell a story. This aphorism has been discussed in these pages before. Enthusiasts devote as much or more effort to uncovering and articulating the history that a medal represents, as to the appreciation of its numismatic attributes.

The extraordinary story of the medal shown here is almost beyond the scope of this short article. Not only does it tell the tale of a battle in which men killed and died and tried to survive in a maelstrom of lead and fire; it is also emblematic of the struggle of Arfican-Americans to establish a place for themselves in a hostile society. It was a struggle that in a just world would never have been necessary, and one that, horrifyingly, continues to this day.

The battle of Chaffin’s Farm and Newmarket Height was fought in September 1864 during the American Civil War. The United States’ Army of the James, under General Benjamin Butler, mounted a diversionary attack on the Confederate defences around Richmond, Virginia. Tactically inconclusive, the assault nevertheless achieved its strategic aim of causing the Confederate General Robert E. Lee to deploy additional troops to the area, weakening his defences elsewhere. in spite of heavy casualties. They earned great acclaim vindicating those such as President Abraham Lincoln (and General Butler himself) who had promoted the enlistment of AfricanAmerican troops. No fewer than 20 awards of the Medal of Honour were made during the battle, many of them to African-Americans. In addition, the medal shown here was created on the personal initiative of General Butler for presentation to around 200 selected African-Americans who had particularly distinguished themselves in the fighting.

The battle is chiefly notable for a significant deployment on the Union side of African-American soldiers (or ‘Colored Troops’ as they were then known) and for the tremendous courage and combat effectiveness that they displayed. They fought across open ground in the face of withering fire, and acquitted themselves gallantly in close combat, persevering Medal to scale

SPECIALIST: NED COWELL +44 (0) 1722 341469 nc@woolleyandwallis.co.uk

Now accepting consignments for the 24th November sale.

OPPOSITE & BELOW. American Civil War: the United States ‘Colored Troops’ Medal, 1864. Estimate: £8,000 – 12,000

A political appointee with questionable military abilities and a controversial past, Butler is notable for having formed, in 1862, the first Regiment of African-Americans in the U.S. Army: the 1st Louisiana Native Guard. Large numbers of former slaves (many liberated by the US army) and other African-Americans eventually entered U.S. service, and Butler was a pioneer in this respect.

The extent to which opposition to slavery was a casus belli of the American Civil War has been much debated, but emancipation undoubtedly

Medal to scale became one of the major war aims of the Union, particularly after President Lincoln’s Emancipation Proclamation of late 1862/early 1863. This act freed, at a stroke, all those enslaved in the Confederate States. The edict was obviously unenforceable unless or until those slaves could escape to one of the Northern States, or passed through the lines of an advancing Union army. Once this obstacle was cleared, they were free to enlist and fight to confirm their new found freedom. The idea that they were fighting for the rights of African-Americans (and not merely for the interests of one white faction against another) is made explicit by the legend “FERRO IIS LIBERTAS PERVENIET” (Freedom will be theirs by the sword) that appears on Butler’s medal above two African-American soldiers, bayonets fixed, attacking the parapet of a fort.

This medal is thus remarkable for a number of reasons. Rare in absolute terms, it is also unusual as an example of a contemporary US Civil War award. By the 1860s Britain had developed a consolidated culture of recognising military service by the presentation of medals, but no such culture existed in North America. Many of the objects that are loosely regarded as ‘American Civil War Medals’ are actually badges denoting membership of one of the numerous Civil War veterans’ associations. In this regard they have a loose association with campaign medals, but may post date the war by some decades.

This example of the Butler Medal, to be offered for sale in our 6th May auction, is desirable not only as a very rare award, but as a tangible link to the genesis of the struggle for the rights of AfricanAmericans.