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NY Nat'l Guard Medal for Long Service


Gary Cain

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107dui.gif

 

Possible candidate or two from the rosters of Civil War soldiers:

 

Name: Eugene F. Roberts

 

 

Side: Union

Regiment State/Origin: New York

Regiment Name: 10 N.Y. Infantry.

Regiment Name Expanded: 10th Regiment, New York Infantry

COMPANY: H

Rank In: Lieutenant

 

 

and

 

Name: Eugene F. Roberts

Side: Union

Regiment State/Origin: New York

Regiment Name: 7 N.Y. State Militia (3 Months, 1862)

Regiment Name Expanded: 7th Regiment, New York State Militia (3 months, 1862)

COMPANY: G

Rank In: Private

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As would be expected from Tiffany in the 19th Century it is a beautifully crafted and struck Bronze sservice medal. Not a memorial piece. These type of awards for service and marksmanship were very common in National Guard and Militia units post-Civil War and many have survived. An interesting area of medal/badge collecting in its own right.

Bobgee

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Well, the 7 could be the 7th NY Infantry (even though it has crossed cannons). I believe they eventually became the 107th inf Regt, and the 107th RCT's lineage comes from them..... IIRC, they were involved in the Span-American campaign. I think I have a book on them somewhere around here.

 

 

-Ski

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It is definitely a 7th NY Infantry Long and Faithful Service Medal, almost certainly awarded to the second man (Co G, 7th NY). They were awarded in this form at least until 1940 when the regiment was federalized prior to WW II. All of them were made by Tiffany. The ribbon is missing (the broach has the unit motto "Pro Patria et Gloria" as you see in the images above). Normally solid red ribbon was used, but blue ribbon was used to denote service in other units, most often during the Civil War and WW I. Active service counted double for the basic award and it's higher levels (in increments of five years), even if some of the time was in a different unit. Also, Tiffany used the same beautiful running script in the naming throughout. Depending on the period, the naming could include the rank and the full date (month/day/year). The reason for the crossed canons is that the unit's lineage traces to the 3rd and later the 27th Artillery Regiment, NY State Militia, before becoming the 7th NY Inf. The unit still exists in the NY National Guard but under a different desgination, and still drills in the magnificent old armory at the intersection of Park and Lexington Avenues in Manhattan. Hope this helps.

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Many, many thanks for the help! One question though, what makes you favor the second man listed over the first? At that time I would think it unusual for a man to go from a private to a major.

 

 

 

Cheers

Gary

It is definitely a 7th NY Infantry Long and Faithful Service Medal, almost certainly awarded to the second man (Co G, 7th NY). They were awarded in this form at least until 1940 when the regiment was federalized prior to WW II. All of them were made by Tiffany. The ribbon is missing (the broach has the unit motto "Pro Patria et Gloria" as you see in the images above). Normally solid red ribbon was used, but blue ribbon was used to denote service in other units, most often during the Civil War and WW I. Active service counted double for the basic award and it's higher levels (in increments of five years), even if some of the time was in a different unit. Also, Tiffany used the same beautiful running script in the naming throughout. Depending on the period, the naming could include the rank and the full date (month/day/year). The reason for the crossed canons is that the unit's lineage traces to the 3rd and later the 27th Artillery Regiment, NY State Militia, before becoming the 7th NY Inf. The unit still exists in the NY National Guard but under a different desgination, and still drills in the magnificent old armory at the intersection of Park and Lexington Avenues in Manhattan. Hope this helps.
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Many, many thanks for the help! One question though, what makes you favor the second man listed over the first? At that time I would think it unusual for a man to go from a private to a major.

Cheers

Gary

 

Yes, tt could be either man since the 10th was also a NY City regiment, but absent any further research, the second man was the only one we know who served in the 7th. It was not unusual for men to join other regiments in those days and it's entirely possible that this is the case for both of them since I could find no listing for Eugene F. Roberts in the officers roster or index of the 7th's regimental history. The disparity in rank can be explained by the twenty-odd years difference between the Civil War and the date of the award, 1884. Evidently either Roberts had further service subsequent to the Civil War. Your friend might request copies of their service records from the NY State Archives if he's interested or check for entries in the NY Times. Indexed copies of the paper are often available on local public library web sites. Incidentally, this is the earliest date on one of these medals I've seen. The patent date on the lower arm of the reverse of the lower arm says March 3, 1885. One correction to my previous reply, the armory is located between (not at the intersection of) Park and Lexington which run parallel to each other, and bounded by 66th and 67th Streets.

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As a possibly irrelevant aside - that ^ NYC Armory was the site of an international art exhibition (The Armory Show) in 1914, which completely changed the course of American art from that time up to the present.

 

That was where Marcel Duchamp's famous "Nude Descending a Staircase" painting was first seen on this side of the Atlantic. The painting was described by a journalist as being "an explosion in a shingle factory." In my working years, I came to know the daughter of the Californian who purchased that painting from the show, for $500. I believe it now resides at the Philadelphia Museum of Fine Art. So, now you know the "rest of the story." :D

 

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