Description
Original Item: Only One Available. Forty-Seven years after “the War to Preserve the Union” ended, the Navy & Marine Corps Civil War Medal was established June 27, 1908. By the Navy Department Special Orders Number 81. The Navy Civil War Medal was awarded for qualifying service between the dates of April 15, 1861, and April 9, 1865.
Obverse:
Two ironclad naval vessels are shown engaged in combat. To the rear of both ships (and to the viewer’s right), two wooden vessels appear, one of which is sinking. In the sky, a bomb is bursting in air. Above this scene, and following the upper contour of the medal, the words THE CIVIL WAR appear in raised letters. The exergue contains the dates 1861-1865.
The battle scene is a representation of the fight between the ironclads U.S.S. Monitor and CSS Virginia formerly U.S.S. Merrimack at Hampton Roads, Virginia on March 9, 1862. The U.S.S. Monitor in the right foreground closes with the Merrimack at right center. In the background, to the right, are two wooden ships one of which is sinking.
This scene also marks the end of the old “wood” Navy and development of the modern Navy. The inscription and dates denote the conflict and the period during which…
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