Engraved Fifth Corps Badge of Lt. Henry G. Hamilton, Co. I, 140th New York Infantry. 

FOUGHT AT LITTLE ROUND TOP AND WOUNDED AT THE BATTLE OF THE WILDERNESS

Three-piece silver medal with two bars & Maltese cross with red and blue silk ribbon. Approx. l. 38 mm. Two bars are engraved with the battle honors "7 Pines" and "5 Forks" and the obverse is engraved "2d Brigd / 1st Div. / 5th Corps / A.P." The reverse is engraved "Lt. H. Hamil." 

Lieutenant Henry G. Hamilton of Rochester, New York, enlisted as a private on 20 August 1862 into Company G. of the 13th New York Infantry. 

Importantly, he transferred in May 1863 to Company I of the 140th New York, accompanied by a promotion to Sergeant, on the eve of the Battle of Gettysburg.  

He led the men of the 140th in the climactic defense of Little Round Top on the second day of battle, engaging Hood’s Texans at sword-length after the fall of his colonel, Patrick O’Rorke. Elevated to first lieutenant later that month and given company command, Hamilton was again in the line at Bristoe Station, Mine Run, and, in the brutal spring of 1864, the Wilderness. There, on 5 May, a bullet shattered his right groin and hip; he was captured on the field and endured seven months in Confederate hands as a prisoner of war before his parole at Charleston and transfer to Camp Parole, Maryland, in December 1864. During his enlistment, he sent regular letters back to a newspaper in Rochester, describing his experiences at Gettysburg and later as a POW. 

Hamilton returned to duty in time for the regiment’s final review, mustering out as captain on 3 June 1865 and receiving brevet promotions to captain and major “for gallant and meritorious service” rendered at the Battle of the Wilderness.

An important medal from one of the heroes of Little Round Top. 

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