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Confederate States of America Medals of Honor
During the War Between the States, a Confederate Medal of Honor never became reality. Disagreement as well as financial difficulties precluded it from coming to fruition. On July 1, 1896, General Stephen Dill Lee, one of the few remaining senior officers of the Confederate army, spoke to a group of sons of Confederate veterans who had gathered at Richmond to form a group to preserve the memory and valor of the Confederate soldier. He told the group it was their duty to present the true history of the South to future generations. This group, chartered as the Sons of Confederate Veterans, was committed to that charge. In 1977, Private Samuel Davis of Coleman's Scouts, became the first to be posthumously presented the Confederate Medal of Honor. Since then, many others have been presented and those whose valor went far beyond the call of duty are finally being recognized.
Lt Gen Stephen Dill Lee
"To you, Sons of Confederate Veterans, we submit the vindication of the cause for which we fought; to your strength will be given the defense of the Confederate soldier's good name, the guardianship of his history, the emulation of his virtues, the perpetuation of those principles he loved and which made him glorious and which you also cherish. Remember it is your duty to see that the true history of the South is presented to future generations."
Roll of Honor
Colonel Leopold Ludger Armant
18th Louisiana Consolidated Regiment
April 8, 1864 - Mansfield, Louisiana
Sergeant Adam Washington Ballenger
13th South Carolina Infantry
July 28, 1864 - Deep Bottom, Virginia
Private Wilson J. Barbee
1st Texas Infantry
July 2, 1863 - Gettysburg, Pennsylvania
Seaman Arnold Becker
CSS H. L. Hunley
February 17, 1864 - Attack on USS Housatonic outside Charleston Harbor, South Carolina
Private Christopher Columbus Bland
2nd North Carolina Artillery
December 24, 1864 - Fort Fisher, North Carolina
Father Emmeran Bliemel
Chaplain, 10th Tennessee Infantry
August 31, 1864 - Jonesboro, Georgia
Captain Isaac Newton Brown
Commander, CSS Arkansas
July 15, 1862 - Yazoo and Mississippi Rivers
Colonel Henry King Burgwyn , Jr.
26th North Carolina Infantry
July 1, 1863 - Gettysburg, Pennsylvania
Corporal C. F. Carlsen
CSS H. L. Hunley
February 17, 1864 - Attack on USS Housatonic outside Charleston Harbor, South Carolina
Major General Patrick Ronayne Cleburne
Cleburne's Division
November 30, 1864 - Franklin, Tennessee
Seaman F. Collins
CSS H. L. Hunley
February 17, 1864 - Attack on USS Housatonic outside Charleston Harbor, South Carolina
Adjutant Claudius Virginius Hughes Davis
22nd Mississippi Infantry
July 20, 1864 - Peach Tree Creek, Georgia
Private Samuel Davis
Coleman's Scouts
November 27, 1863 - Pulaski, Tennessee
1st Lieutenant George E. Dixon
CSS H. L. Hunley
February 17, 1864 - Attack on USS Housatonic outside Charleston Harbor, South Carolina
David Owen Dodd
Military Telegrapher
January 8, 1864 - Little Rock, Arkansas
1st Lieutenant Richard William Dowling
1st Texas Heavy Artillery
September 8, 1863 - Sabine Pass, Texas
Private Lamar Fontaine
Discharged soldier
May 24-May 28, 1863 - Vicksburg, Mississippi
Colonel Nathan Bedford Forrest
Forrest's Cavalry
April 8, 1862 - Shiloh, Tennessee
Sergeant Robert Henry Gregg Gaines
23rd Alabama Infantry
May 16, 1863 - Bakers Creek, Mississippi
Brigadier General Richard Brooke Garnett
Garnett's Brigade
July 3, 1863 - Gettysburg, Pennsylvania
Brigadier General Thomas Green
Green's Texas Cavalry Corps
April 12, 1864 - Blair's Landing, Louisiana
Private William Guehrs
Creuzbaur's Battery, 5th Texas Artillery
May 6, 1864 - Calcasieu Pass, Louisiana
Brigadier General Wade Hampton
Hampton's Brigade
July 3, 1863 - Gettysburg, Pennsylvania
Private Asbury W. Hancock
19th Mississippi Infantry
May 12, 1864 - Spotsylvania Court House, Virginia
Lieutenant Colonel Tazewell Lee Hargrove
44th North Carolina Regiment
June 26, 1863 - South Anna Bridge, Virginia
Juliet Opie Hopkins
Nurse
June 1, 1862 - Seven Pines, Virginia
Private William A. Hughes
1st Tennessee Infantry
June 27, 1864 - Kennesaw Mountain, Georgia
Private Dewitt Smith Jobe
Coleman's Scouts
August 30, 1864 - Between Triune and Nolensville, Tennessee
Private James Keelan
Thomas' Legion
November 8, 1861 - Strawberry Plains, Tennessee
Sergeant Richard Rowland Kirkland
2nd South Carolina Infantry
December 14, 1862 - Fredericksburg, Maryland
Captain James Lile Lemon
18th Georgia Infantry
November 29, 1863 - Fort Sanders, Tennessee
David Herbert Llewellyn , M.D.
Surgeon, CSS Alabama
June 19, 1864 - Off coast of Cherbourg, France, engagement with USS Kearsage
Private Tapley P. Mays
7th Virginia Infantry
May 5, 1862 - Williamsburg, Virginia
1st Lieutenant William Alexander McQueen
Garden's Battery, Palmetto Light Artillery
July 3, 1863 - Gettysburg, Pennsylvania
Captain John Singleton Mosby
Mosby's Regulars
March 8-9, 1863 - Fairfax Courthouse, Virginia
Private William Thomas Overby
43rd Virginia Cavalry
September 23, 1864 - Front Royal, Virginia
Private Benjamin Welch Owens
1st Maryland Artillery
June 15, 1863 - Stephenson's Depot, Virginia
Major John Pelham
Stuart's Horse Artillery
December 13, 1862 - Fredericksburg, Virginia
Brigadier General William Dorsey Pender
Pender's Brigade
May 3, 1863 - Chancellorsville, Virginia
Major General Camille Armand Jules Marie, Prince de Polignac
Polignac's Brigade
April 8, 1864 - Mansfield, Louisiana
Lieutenant Charles William Read
CSA Navy
June 6-June 27, 1863 - Cruise of the Clarence, Tacony, and Archer
1st Lieutenant William Field Rector
39th Arkansas Infantry
July 4, 1863 - Helena, Arkansas
Seaman Ridgeway
CSS H. L. Hunley
February 17, 1864 - Attack on USS Housatonic outside Charleston Harbor, South Carolina
Captain Samuel Jones Ridley
1st Mississippi Artillery
May 16, 1863 - Bakers Creek, Mississippi
Seaman C. Simpkins
CSS H. L. Hunley
February 17, 1864 - Attack on USS Housatonic outside Charleston Harbor, South Carolina
Seaman James A. Wicks
CSS H. L. Hunley
February 17, 1864 - Attack on USS Housatonic outside Charleston Harbor, South Carolina
Captain Henry Wirz
Ex-Commandant, Camp Sumter, Georgia
November 10, 1865 - Washington, D.C.
1st Lieutenant Bennett Henderson Young
5th Confederate State Retributors
October 19, 1864 - St. Albans, Vermont
Valor in Gray: The Recipients of the Confederate Medal of Honor
Excerpt from Appendix A: Miscellaneous War Decorations of the Confederacy
The Davis Guard Medal
In one of the most incredible actions of the war, an artillery company of less than 50 menCompany F, 1st Regiment, Texas Heavy Artillerysuccessfully repulsed a Federal armada of more than 20 warships headed by four heavily-armed gunboats. This action, fought at Sabine Pass, Texas, on 8 September 1863, lasted only 45 minutes, yet effectively prevented the invasion of southeast Texas.
News of this feat spread quickly and on 8 February 1864, the Confederate Congress approved the following resolution. Resolved, That the thanks of Congress are eminently due, and are hereby cordially given, to Captain Odlum, Lieutenant Richard Dowling, and the forty-one men composing the Davis Guards, under their command, for their daring, gallant, and successful defense of Sabine Pass, Texas, against the attack made by the enemy on the eighth of September last, with a fleet of five gunboats and twenty-two steam transports, carrying a landing force of fifteen thousand men.
Resolved, That this defense, resulting, under the providence of God, in the defeat of the enemy, the capture of two gunboats, with more than three hundred prisoners, including the commander of the fleet, the crippling of a third gunboat, the dispersion of the transports, and preventing the invasion of Texas constitutes, in the opinion of Congress, one of the most brilliant and heroic achievements in the history of this war, and entitles the Davis Guards to the gratitude and admiration of their country.
Resolved, That the President be requested to communicate the foregoing resolutions to Captain Odlum, Lieutenant Dowling, and the men under their command.
Shortly after the engagement, Father Felix Zoppa da Connobio, O. S. F., headed a movement to present each member of the Davis Guard with a silver medal for valor. In a matter of weeks, one Charles Gottchalk had fabricated the medals for presentation by "the ladies of Houston." Although only 41 members of the company were on duty at the time of the actionone being absent on leave and five others sickall were deemed worthy of recognition. Additional medals were given to Lt. Nicholas H. Smith and Dr. George H. Bailey who served in Ft. Griffin during the battle. A third medal was forwarded to President Jefferson Davis.3 The Davis Guard Medals were fabricated from a smoothed Mexican eight Reales, 38 mm in diameter. The obverse was inscribed with the letters "DG" above a Maltese Cross; the reverse held three lines reading: "Sabine Pass, Sept 8th, 1863."
Each side was circled by a 3 mm engraved border of paired oblique lines extending to the edge. The medal was suspended by an attached loop and Irish green ribbon.
Known Recipients of the Davis Guard Medal:------------------------------------------------
On 6 March 1889, Dowlings only surviving daughter, Miss Annie Dowling (later Mrs. W. F. Robertson), was honored by both houses of the Texas Legislature with a "handsome gold medal, with diamond setting, as a token of their esteem for her distinguished father." It was inscribed, "From Citizens of Houston" on one side and read, "Presented to Annie Dowling, the daughter of our Hero" on the reverse.
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