Silver and enamel official badge of the First (I) Army Corps, Army of the Potomac. N.p., 1863 - 1864. The blue enamel to the smaller circular device at center indicates that the wearer would have been of the corps's Third Division. Approx. 1 in. diameter.

The First Corps officially adopted the badge on 21 March 1863. By order of President Abraham Lincoln on 23 March 1864, the First Corps, whose ranks were significantly depleted during the Battle of Gettysburg, would be merged into the Fifth Corps, Army of the Potomac, though men who served with the old First would be permitted to continue the use of their circular corps badges. 

Provenance: From the collection of author, historian, and extensive collector, Howard “Howie” Madaus (1943-2007). Accompanied by a small envelope with a description of the badge handwritten by Madaus.

The ambition of Madaus’ badge collection was to assemble representative examples of every major type of Civil War corps badge worn by the various branches of the Union Army, including specimens from each division of every army corps, along with numerous rare and previously undocumented varieties. In both its breadth and depth, his private holdings likely surpassed those of many public institutions, and a portion of the collection is now offered here for the first time at public auction. 

Howard Madaus was a distinguished scholar and curator whose expertise in American military history and flags earned him national recognition. An active member of the Company of Military Historians, the American Society of Arms Collectors, the North-South Skirmish Association, and the Maryland Arms Collectors Association, he built his reputation through decades of dedicated scholarship. From 1968 to 1992, he served as assistant curator of history at the Milwaukee Public Museum, later becoming curator of the Cody Firearms Museum at the Buffalo Bill Historical Center in Cody, Wyoming, and finally Chief Curator of the National Civil War Museum in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, in 2000.

In addition to his museum work, Madaus authored numerous influential books and articles on firearms, the Civil War, and American flags. His groundbreaking Battle Flags of the Confederate Army of Tennessee (1976) established him as a national authority, followed by major studies such as The Flags of the Iron Brigade (1997) and The American Flag: Two Centuries of Concord & Conflict (2006). His expertise reached broad audiences through appearances on the History Channel, A&E, and PBS, and over the course of his career he emerged as one of the foremost authorities on United States Civil War flags.

[Civil War, Union, Confederate] [Relics, Militaria] [Medals, Corps Badges, Badges]