Searching for the names of the officers awarded the Kearny Cross Medal

nick in NY

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Aug 9, 2015
Hello, I at it again searching for the names of the officers awarded the Kearny Cross Medal during the Civil War. This is a rather rare medal with each one named and numbered on the back. It was a limit presentation to the certain brave officers of General Philip Kearnys Division of the 3rd Corps. They were presented by General David Birney after General Kearnys death a Chantilly Va. Please let me know of any the the names and units of any officers who were awarded the Kearny Cross. Thanks Nick In NY
 
Hello, I at it again searching for the names of the officers awarded the Kearny Cross Medal during the Civil War. This is a rather rare medal with each one named and numbered on the back. It was a limit presentation to the certain brave officers of General Philip Kearnys Division of the 3rd Corps. They were presented by General David Birney after General Kearnys death a Chantilly Va. Please let me know of any the the names and units of any officers who were awarded the Kearny Cross. Thanks Nick In NY

Two recipients were women.

http://thirdmichigan.blogspot.com/2008/05/daniel-g-crotty.html

http://www.pacivilwar150.com/ThroughPeople/Women/MarieBroseTepeLeonard.html

http://members.tripod.com/~Rob_4th_Maine/kearny.htm

http://endued.tripod.com/tidbits/id38.html
 
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Hello, I at it again searching for the names of the officers awarded the Kearny Cross Medal during the Civil War. This is a rather rare medal with each one named and numbered on the back.

The Kearny Cross was issued to enlisted men (only) starting in May of 1863. They were mostly not engraved unless by the recipient him/herself.
kearny_cross.jpg

Its predecessor was the Kearny Medal which is different. It was issued to officers starting in November of 1862 and each is numbered and inscribed with the name of the recipient.
kearny-medal-F.jpg


I am writing a book on the subject. Are you looking for somebody in particular?

-Bob
 
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The Kearny Cross was issued to enlisted men (only) starting in May of 1863.

To be accurate, I should have said that they were "almost aways" issued to enlisted men. I know of at least one officer, Gen. Thomas F. Meagher, who received the cross. His was special-ordered by Birney in June of '63 and was silver instead of the usual bronze.

Maybe I should have lead with that as the answer to nick's original question. :happy:
 
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Hello Bob, Are you still writing a book on the Kearny Medal officers? or is it on the Kearny Cross Enlisted men? Did you know there is a pamphelt/ paperbound book of the Kearny Medal officers known from 1864 published by Ball Black and Co. with the 317 recipients names and medal number given. IT IS REALLY RARE TO SEE!! The Kearny Cross enlisted men names of recipients are on the web/internet for all to see. Please put an update on your progress and direction of your Kearny medal project! I have compiled a list of over 200 of the 400 Gillmore Medal recipients for the Charleston Campaign - some were easy to find and other were very difficult. Odd that in some regiments I found all recipients and in others I found only one recipient. Please write any information you can on your Kearny Medal project. Thanks Nick Penachio
 
Dear Bob, Have you ever seen the OMSA article about General Birneys Kearny Medal - it is jeweled - and it is still known with a prominient dealer! Kearny medals are scarce to see these days - though one was at Gettysburg show this summer John Campbell - 1st New York Vols - badge 170#.I too have been researching the Kearny medal and have a list of about 5 or 6 of the Kearny medals that are known today. In Baltimore last March at show Augustus Warner -40th New York Vols medal - 118# was there two tables away from me! I nearly fainted!! Lets stay in touch! . Regards Nick
 
Hi Nick. My book is about the Kearny Medal and the Kearny Cross. I own a nice KC but would love a KM. I know the dealer you mentioned and have color photos of that beautiful medal to include in the book. I've seen several OMSA articles on the subject but don't recall that one off hand and I'm away from my records. Do you have the reference? I suppose that that dealer wrote it?

I'm writing a biography of each recipient (about 803 so far, combined, including four women). I've consulted more than 200 sources so far but I'm also pulling all of their service and pension records - so it will be a while :wink:.

I have a copy of the pamphlet. It contains 315 recipients (3 are unnumbered, #92/#270 is a duplication, and 6 numbered ones are unassigned). If you have a different version of the pamphlet, I'd love to see it! And I know of at least two recipients of the KM whose names don't appear on that list.

At last count I had 203 photos of the recipients, including 56 in which they are wearing the KM and 8 are wearing the KC.

See also my "Gettysburg Medals and Badges" page on Facebook.

Nice to know you. Will you be at the Gettysburg show this weekend?
 
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Nick, have you seen some evidence that Birney was involved in the inspiration/design of the KM or that he awarded them to the officers (per your original post in this thread)? I know that some assume so, given his position, but most accounts say that it was a project of "the officers." Birney wasn't on the organizing committee and isn't even mentioned in that pamphlet except as a recipient. I've always thought that it was telling that when he wanted to give a personalized one to Meagher, he chose the cross (over which he clearly had control) instead of the officer's medal. Thanks for any more info.
 
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While I'm at it, Nick, there are seven officers listed as recipients of the Kearny Medal whom I have not yet been able to positively identify. They are listed below, along with my best guess as to their correct identity:

#44, "Lieut. L. D. Bunipers", 57th Pennsylvania Infantry (Lorenzo D. Bumpas?)
#108, "Lieut. Fred. Althan", 38th New York Infantry (Frederick D. Althouse?)
#162, "Lieut. James Emri", 99th Pennsylvania Infantry (James Ennis?)
#211, "Lieut. Wm. Hall", 3rd Maine Infantry (William H. Hale?)
#216, "Lieut. J. W. Hart", 20th Indiana Infantry (Isaac W. Hart?)
#263, "Lieut. J. B. Schuler", 87th New York Infantry (John D. Schuller?)
#274, "Capt. J. Louis Maynard", 63rd Pennsylvania Infantry (Timothy L. Maynard?)

I have the impression from other phonetic anomalies that the list was dictated by one officer(s) and transcribed by another - so I can accept the more obvious above as typos, bad handwriting, or mis-hearings. But if your copy of the pamphlet has a different spelling or if you or anyone has better information about who these officers might be, I'd love to hear it!
 
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Hi Nick. My book is about the Kearny Medal and the Kearny Cross. I own a nice KC but would love a KM. I know the dealer you mentioned and have color photos of that beautiful medal to include in the book. I've seen several OMSA articles on the subject but don't recall that one off hand and I'm away from my records. Do you have the reference? I suppose that that dealer wrote it?

I'm writing a biography of each recipient (about 803 so far, combined, including four women). I've consulted more than 200 sources so far but I'm also pulling all of their service and pension records - so it will be a while :wink:.

I have a copy of the pamphlet. It contains 315 recipients (3 are unnumbered, #92/#270 is a duplication, and 6 numbered ones are unassigned). If you have a different one, I'd love to see it! And I know of at least two recipients of the KM whose names don't appear on that list.

At last count I had 203 photos of the recipients, including 56 in which they are wearing the KM and 8 are wearing the KC.

See also my "Gettysburg Medals and Badges" page on Facebook.

Nice to know you. Will you be at the Gettysburg show this weekend?

Hey Bob, I'm curious about the other two women. You mentioned there being four.

I just wrote a book that included Annie and Marie -- found a little new information on them, and would be willing to share it if you need it.
 
There's a list of names in the Official Records …

Thanks but that's the common list of enlisted men and non-comms from General Order #48 who received the Kearny Cross. Different versions of that list disagree with the ORs (including the original GO#48) and there are perhaps dozens of others whose names do not appear on that list.

And that doesn't include the 300+ commissioned officers who received the Kearny Medal … which is different.
 
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Hey Bob, I'm curious about the other two women. You mentioned there being four.

Here's a blog entry that I wrote about one of them:
http://segtours.com/blog/archives/2471

I'm working to nail down more the evidence for the fourth but she appears in more than one contemporary newspaper account.

I have a copy of your book, thanks. :wink:

If you have anything new about Annie Etheridge or Marie Tepe that is not in the book, please PM me.

Thanks.
 
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Hey, cool! I always get a kick out of seeing folks buying my book. I hope the research holds up for you. There was a LOT of stuff that I couldn't squeeze into the book -- I'll send it to you. I'll PM my email address to you here in a minute.

Great detective work on Ms. McKay. Don't you just love that kick you get when you uncover the right lead and find what you're looking for? Man, that was the really addicting part of research. I'd still be researching these women if I didn't have that danged book deadline last year.
 
Hello Bob, Outstanding Posts and information to me and all interested!! The above badge abot a lost August Warner medal is KNOWN TODAY!! I even saw it in Baltimore in March of 2016 and it was only two tables from my table!!! YIPPEE!! There are other August Warner personal items known today also! WOW!! Thanks for posting the interesting lost and found article. I am not going to Gettysburg this weekend. Oddly I have 4 cdvs of KM officers wearing medal- Lt William Wallace- 1st NY (badge 104), Colonel J. F. Pierson 1st NY (badge 90), J. R.Lyons 57th Penn. (badge 36) and W. M. Norton 38th NY (badge 222). I lost a believe it or not signed Augustus Warner 40th NY cdv by throwing it out :frown:(. But if you look carefully it is seen on the net still! I have to study your new posts here now and write you more later. Regards Nick
 
Hello Bob, The 3rd Maine Officer you are looking for identification on may be William D. Haley on civilwardata.com- he was a Lieut. and Quartermaster in regiment.
This is out there on the same medal could he be Woodbury Hall another officer in the 3rd Maine.

All your other possible thought of interpretations look like they are the only officer in the regiment that it could be. The I and J miss listing or miss engraving the 20th Indiana Officer is a just that it is the right officer. Ever see in Indiana Jones when he stepped on the wrong stone! Jehovah!!

Yikes Bob you have 56 of the KM officers wearing the medal photographs!! That is UNBELEIVABLE!!! I do not even think landing on Mars would be more difficult than that! Also having over 200 of the recipients themselves is INCREDIBLE!!! I have to admit though if you look even on civilwardata. com there are afew of the officers pictures that miraculously are ones with them wearing the medal. There is a Fitzhugh Birney image with him wearing his Kearny medal - he was killed though later in the war. Obviously some of the other officers were killed during the war too. So an image of a killed in action officer must really be tough to come by! Some of the regimental histories do have images of certain officers of the regiment but seeing an officer wearing the Kearny Medal in a history must be seldom.

Well definitely stay putting on more information - it is really interesting!! Regards Nick
 
"Wm. Hall" (#668) and "Woodbury Hall" (#798) were both Lieuts. in the 3rd Maine and both received medals. They could be the same guy and it is a duplication in the list (not unprecedented) but I don't think so.

I've seen this photograph labelled as both William and Woodbury by different sources but I believe it is the latter.

hall_woodbury.jpg

Credit: U.S. Army Heritage and Education Center

If "Wm." is "Hale" (as I suspect), then his mother filed for a dependent pension but it was apparently declined. Woodbury and his eventual widow both received pensions. I think William D. Haley is a longshot - but I hope to get their identities sorted out when I pull their service and pension files on my next trip to the Archives in DC.

-Bob
 
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Hello Bob, Great Great Information!! I tell you before I had the Ball and Black pamphlet which is the same as yours believe it or not I attempted to find the KM recipients by their photograph! I did find about 30 images some on civilwardata, some in regimentals I have and some else where on the net. I missed a Fitzhugh Birney wearing the KM cdv a while back. I will some how get the information to you particularly the officers I found wearing a KM. Though You are so advanced at this what I may pass on to you is repetitive! Though the 4 cdvs I have mentioned above you had never seen of the officers wearing the KM I will gladly share with you and You will enjoy them.

I currently have a list of 6 known KM that are out there among collectors. That is not too great though.
Badges - General Birney with jewels , 118, 170, 185, 256, 282 are known. How about you do you know of any KMs out there in collectors hands. Very soon I am getting a cache of information coming to me that the main purpose was to find out more on actual KMs!

Oddly I have a research project currently going on the recipients of the Gillmore medal and have found 200 of the 400 soldiers names and regiments.
I also have a book on ebayer now I wrote on Mexican War Shield shaped Veteran medals! I have found over 200 different named shields of the literally several thousands of members there were in the National Association of Mexican War Veterans. You can go on ebay please and write me through the Mexican War veteran medal book if you would like too after you look at it.
 
Hey Bob! That was really great to tell me that Jermone Lyons 57th Penn. of Montrose Penn. picture is on findagrave!! It is the same officer I have in my cdv of him wearing the KM and he is with his family!! UNBELIEVABLE!! I have to keep looking for more interesting information for you!! Yippee!! Regards Nick
 
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