Birth of U.S. Army’s Medal of Honor
Birth of U.S. Army’s Medal of Honor

On July 12, 1862, President Abraham Lincoln signed legislation creating a Medal of Honor to be awarded “to such noncommissioned officers and privates as shall most distinguish themselves by their gallantry in action, and other soldier-like qualities during the present insurrection [Civil War].”
The first men to receive the Army’s Medal of Honor (the medal on the left side of this stamp) were members of a Union raiding party that took part in the Great Locomotive Chase in April 1862. In that action, they commandeered a train, cut telegraph wires, and destroyed sections of a Southern railway for the Union cause.
Though Lincoln had initially approved the Medal of Honor as an award for Civil War service, in 1863 it was made a permanent military honor. Since its creation, more than 3,500 medals have been awarded, with a little less than half of them going to Civil War soldiers.
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Thanks for the daily history stories. I collect primarily U.S. stamps and I make my own album pages. Why? Because my interest is in the history behind the stamps, so each page includes a couple of paragraphs about the origin behind the particular issue.
To Don and all the folks at Mystic
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