Davis Guards Medal | |
---|---|
Type | Campaign medal |
Awarded for | The defense of Sabine Pass, Texas |
Country | Confederate States |
Presented by | the citizens of Houston |
Eligibility | Members of Company F (Davis Guards), 1st (Cook's) Texas Heavy Artillery Regiment; Second Lieutenant N. W. Smith, Engineer Corps; and Assistant Surgeon George H. Bailey |
Campaign(s) | Joint Federal Expedition to Sabine Pass, Texas (September 7–8, 1863) |
Established | 1863 |
The Davis Guards Medal was a military award presented by the citizens of Houston to each of the participants a few weeks after the battle of Sabine Pass (September 8, 1863). Father Quesart, in charge of the Catholic Church in Houston during the American Civil War, started the project by popular subscription. These hand-engraved medals are the only medals known to be presented to Confederate soldiers during the Civil War,. [1]
The Davis Guards Medal was presented by the citizens of Houston a few weeks after the battle of Sabine Pass (September 8, 1863) [2] to the members of Company F (Davis Guards), 1st (Cook's) Texas Heavy Artillery Regiment; Second Lieutenant N. W. Smith, Engineer Corps; and Assistant Surgeon George H. Bailey. [3] Some time later, President Jefferson Davis also visited that locality, and the Davis Guards had another medal made and presented it to him. [3]
The obverse of the Davis Guards Medal consisted of a Mexican silver dollar, each side smoothed off and engraved like a love token with the letters " D G ", below which is a rude cross of the form known as cross pattée. The reverse of the medal bore the inscription in three lines " Sabine Pass " / " Sept. 8th " / " 1863 " in cursive script. Border, on each side, a line, about one-eighth of an inch from the edge, from which groups of oblique lines extend to the edge. Loop for suspension. [3]
Three of the medals are known to exist. These are on display at the American Civil War Museum, Bullock Museum, [4] and Texas Military Forces Museum.
Below is a list of recipients of the Davis Guards Medal. On February 8, 1864, all members of the artillery company also received the "thanks of Congress." [5]
Hempstead is a city in and the county seat of Waller County, Texas, United States, part of the Houston–The Woodlands–Sugar Land metropolitan area.
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Sabine Pass is a neighborhood in Port Arthur, Texas. It had been incorporated in 1861 before being formally annexed by Port Arthur in 1978. However, Sabine Pass retains its own distinct identity with its own school district, post office, water district, and port authority. The Port Arthur Convention and Visitors Bureau stated that Sabine Pass is "often regarded as" being a "self-contained" community.
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Edmund Jackson Davis was an American lawyer, soldier, and politician. Davis was a Southern Unionist and a general in the Union Army in the American Civil War. He also served as the 14th Governor of Texas from 1870 to 1874, during the Reconstruction era. Reviled by many Texans during and after the Civil War as a traitor for his open support for the North and his attempts to break up Texas into several Northern-controlled states, Davis is known for leasing prisoners to private corporations to alleviate state budget shortfalls.
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