Confederate Roll of Honor

The Confederate Roll of Honor, officially the Roll of Honor, was an award of the Confederate States Army created by Adjutant and Inspector General Samuel Cooper on October 3, 1863 (authorized by act of Congress, October 13, 1862), to recognize "courage and good conduct on the field of battle."[1]

Confederate Roll of Honor
TypeRoll of honor
Awarded for"Courage and good conduct on the field of battle"
Country Confederate States
Presented bythe President
EligibilityArmy personnel only
Campaign(s)American Civil War
EstablishedOctober 3, 1863

History

The Congress had passed an act on October 13, 1862, which authorized the President to "bestow medals, with proper devices, upon such officers of the armies of the Confederate States as shall be conspicuous for courage and good conduct on the field of battle, and also to confer a badge of distinction upon one private or non-commissioned officer of each company after every signal victory it shall have assisted to achieve."[2] No award for the Confederate navy was authorized.[3] General Lee is said to have opposed the awarding of medals and badges in wartime for fear that they would be distributed inequitably.[4]

Delays in obtaining medals led the Army to creating the roll.[3][5] Nominations were made by company members after enemy engagements. The soldiers voted after each battle, and the results were listed in battle reports, read aloud to regiments, and published in newspapers across the Confederacy.[3][6] Bestowing an honor by the vote of common soldiers was virtually unprecedented.[3]

The Roll

General orders Number 131, issued by Adjutant and Inspector General S. Cooper, included the names of hundreds of officers and men who fought in the battles of Murfreesboro,[7] Chancellorsville[8] and Gettysburg.[1] Subsequently new additions to the Roll of Honor were published for engagements after the Gettysburg Campaign, including:

  • General Order No. 64, 10 August 1864, for the battles of:
Battle of Brandy Station, Va.[9]
Battle of Chickamauga, Ga;
Battle of Jenkins Ferry, Ark;[10]
Battle of Kennesaw Mountain, Ga.[11]
Battle of Locust Hill, Va; and Battle of Payne's Farm, Va;[12]
Battle of Pleasant Hill, La;[10]
  • General Order No. 87, 10 December 1864 for the battles of:
Battle of Bristoe Station .[13]
various engagements of the Jeff. Davis Legion;[14]
miscellaneous engagements of the First Battalion, Confederate Infantry.[15]
Battles Near Petersburg;[16]
Battle of Weldon Rail Road;[16]
Battle of Ream's Station, Weldon Rail Road;[16]
Battle of Fort Harrison;[16]
Battle of Darbytown Road;[16]
Battle of Hanover Junction;[16]
Battle of Drewry's Bluff;[16]

References
  1. Confederate States of America. Adjutant and Inspector-General's Office. "General orders. No. 131". U.S. National Library of Medicine. Retrieved January 22, 2019.
  2. "The Confederate Roll of Honor June 3-August 1, 1863.--The Gettysburg Campaign". Shotgun's Home of the American Civil War. Retrieved January 22, 2019.
  3. The Editors of Boston Publishing Company (October 1, 2014). The Medal of Honor: A History of Service Above and Beyond. Voyageur Press. p. 51. ISBN 978-1-62788-494-5.
  4. Alexander, David T. (November 30, 2012). "Southern Cross of Honor: Whitehead & Hoag wins contract". Coin World. Retrieved January 24, 2019.
  5. Official Records of the Union and Confederate Armies, Series I, Volume XXIX, Part 1, Page 476, Accessed 2 March 2019, https://hdl.handle.net/2027/coo.31924077699886
  6. Casstevens, Frances H. (October 31, 2006). Tales from the North and the South: Twenty-Four Remarkable People and Events of the Civil War. McFarland. pp. 306–307. ISBN 978-0-7864-2870-0.
  7. United States. War Department. The War of the Rebellion: A Compilation of the Official Records of the Union And Confederate Armies. Series 1, Volume 20, In Two Parts. Part 1, Reports., book, 1887; Washington D.C.. (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth154629/: accessed March 2, 2019), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, texashistory.unt.edu; crediting UNT Libraries Government Documents Department.
  8. United States. War Department. The War of the Rebellion: A Compilation of the Official Records of the Union And Confederate Armies. Series 1, Volume 30, In Four Parts. Part 2, Reports., book, 1891; Washington D.C..(https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth152979/: accessed March 2, 2019), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, texashistory.unt.edu; crediting UNT Libraries Government Documents Department.
  9. United States. War Department. The War of the Rebellion: A Compilation of the Official Records of the Union And Confederate Armies. Series 1, Volume 51, In Two Parts. Part 2, Confederate Correspondence, etc., book, 1897; Washington D.C.. (https://texashistory.unt.edu:/67531/metapth139846/: accessed March 2, 2019), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, texashistory.unt.edu; crediting UNT Libraries Government Documents Department.
  10. United States. War Department. The War of the Rebellion: A Compilation of the Official Records of the Union And Confederate Armies. Series 1, Volume 34, In Four Parts. Part 1, Reports., book, 1892; Washington D.C.. (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth146033/: accessed March 2, 2019), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, texashistory.unt.edu; crediting UNT Libraries Government Documents Department.
  11. United States. War Department. The War of the Rebellion: A Compilation of the Official Records of the Union And Confederate Armies. Series 1, Volume 52, In Two Parts. Part 2, Confederate Correspondence, etc., book, 1898; Washington D.C.. (https://texashistory.unt.edu:/67531/metapth154641/: accessed March 2, 2019), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, texashistory.unt.edu; crediting UNT Libraries Government Documents Department.
  12. Official Records of the Union and Confederate Armies, Series I, Volume XXIX, Part 1, Page 908, Accessed 2 March 2019, https://hdl.handle.net/2027/coo.31924077699886?urlappend=%3Bseq=926
  13. Official Records of the Union and Confederate Armies, Series I, Volume XXIX, Part 1, Page 477, Accessed 2 March 2019, https://hdl.handle.net/2027/coo.31924077699886?urlappend=%3Bseq=495
  14. United States. War Department. The War of the Rebellion: A Compilation of the Official Records of the Union And Confederate Armies. Series 1, Volume 51, In Two Parts. Part 2, Confederate Correspondence, etc., book, 1897; Washington D.C.. (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth139846/: accessed March 2, 2019), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, texashistory.unt.edu; crediting UNT Libraries Government Documents Department.
  15. United States. War Department. The War of the Rebellion: A Compilation of the Official Records of the Union And Confederate Armies. Series 1, Volume 52, In Two Parts. Part 2, Confederate Correspondence, etc., book, 1898; Washington D.C.. (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth154641/: accessed March 2, 2019), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, texashistory.unt.edu; crediting UNT Libraries Government Documents Department.
  16. United States. War Department. The War of the Rebellion: A Compilation of the Official Records of the Union And Confederate Armies. Series 1, Volume 40, In Three Parts. Part 1, Reports., book, 1892; Washington D.C.. (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth145052/: accessed March 3, 2019), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, texashistory.unt.edu; crediting UNT Libraries Government Documents Department.
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