Jun 12 at 12:00 PM - Sale 2708 -

Sale 2708 - Lot 71

Estimate: $ 600 - $ 900
(CIVIL WAR--NAVY.) Navy Department order regarding the first Navy Medals of Honor. General Order No. 10. 2 pages, 8¼ x 5½ inches on one folding leaf, signed in type by Gideon Welles as Secretary of the Navy; vertical fold, stitch holes along center fold; docketed on verso "Read at gen'l muster May 10th 1863." [Washington], 3 April 1863
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Additional Details

The Medal of Honor is the first and highest medal for valor offered by the United States military. It was first authorized as a purely naval honor and signed into law by President Lincoln on 21 December 1861. However, no medals were awarded or produced at that time. A law expanding the honor to the Army followed in June 1862, the Army contracted for medals in November, and then awarded its first medals on 25 March 1863. The Navy followed a week later with this 3 April 1863 order. It recounts the authorizing legislation, describes the rules for display and presentation of the medal, and requests that names be nominated for consideration.

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