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Hello,
I was recently reading an article by Ross Brooks entitled, "Part Irish and the Rest the Flower of Southern Chivalry: Clothing, Arms, and Equipment of the 1st Special Battalion of Louisiana Infantry, 1861-1862". The article goes into detail about the uniforms of the different companies that comprised the battalion, but one small excerpt from the information has me stumped. The article references a distinctive badge that was worn on the breast by members of the batallion, and there is reference to a diary entry dated May 24th 1862 from a Lucy Buck of Front Royal, VA,
"Presently Captain Gardner [sic] of the N[ew] O[rleans] Battalion came in. He wore the badge of the battalion one of the prettiest imaginable designs- a little silver crescent in the concavity of which revolved a silver star upon a pivot on which was inscribed on one side "The Star Battalion from the Crescent City" in a revolution- on the reverse side "Wheat's New Orleans Battalion." It was a cunning little ornament and I really coveted it."
I copied the quote from the article exactly as it appears, and I am certainly intrigued by the description of the badge. It is the first and only time that I've seen reference to badges being worn by the Battalion, and I was wondering if anyone else could shed some further light on this. I think at the very least that this is a fascinating little bit of information, and it would be interesting to see these badges reproduced by a quality maker.
I was recently reading an article by Ross Brooks entitled, "Part Irish and the Rest the Flower of Southern Chivalry: Clothing, Arms, and Equipment of the 1st Special Battalion of Louisiana Infantry, 1861-1862". The article goes into detail about the uniforms of the different companies that comprised the battalion, but one small excerpt from the information has me stumped. The article references a distinctive badge that was worn on the breast by members of the batallion, and there is reference to a diary entry dated May 24th 1862 from a Lucy Buck of Front Royal, VA,
"Presently Captain Gardner [sic] of the N[ew] O[rleans] Battalion came in. He wore the badge of the battalion one of the prettiest imaginable designs- a little silver crescent in the concavity of which revolved a silver star upon a pivot on which was inscribed on one side "The Star Battalion from the Crescent City" in a revolution- on the reverse side "Wheat's New Orleans Battalion." It was a cunning little ornament and I really coveted it."
I copied the quote from the article exactly as it appears, and I am certainly intrigued by the description of the badge. It is the first and only time that I've seen reference to badges being worn by the Battalion, and I was wondering if anyone else could shed some further light on this. I think at the very least that this is a fascinating little bit of information, and it would be interesting to see these badges reproduced by a quality maker.
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