LOT Old Heritage Auctions  /  2007 Feb Americana Grand Format Auction #659  / 

25660

1917 Confederate Orphan Brigade Reunion Ribbon.

Currency:USD Category:Collectibles / Historical Memorabilia Start Price:100.00 USD Estimated At:200.00 - 250.00 USD
1917 Confederate Orphan Brigade Reunion Ribbon.
<B>1917 Confederate Orphan Brigade Reunion Ribbon.</B></I> 2.25" x 7", printed on silk, with an image of Robert E. Lee "ORPHAN BRIGADE (C.S.A.) REUNION 34th Meeting- 57th Year October 11, 1917 Louisville, KY.", with moderate fraying and age toning. The 4,000-man 1st Kentucky Brigade was organized in the summer of 1861. Not recognized by their home state, which remained in the Union, the soldiers had to train in Tennessee. In February 1862, the Confederate army was pushed out of Kentucky, and with it went the 1st Kentucky Brigade, never to return during the war. This forced exile gave the unit its nickname, "Orphan Brigade." The 1st Kentucky Brigade covered itself with glory in the battles it fought with the Confederacy's Army of Tennessee: the battles of Shiloh, Corinth, Vicksburg, Baton Rouge, Stones River, Jackson, Chickamauga, and Missionary Ridge, as well as throughout the Atlanta campaign, and against Sherman during his march to the sea. Gen. Joseph E. Johnston and Gen. John B. Hood, who served at different times as commander of the Army of Tennessee, both declared the Orphan Brigade the best in their army. President Abraham Lincoln's brother-in-law, Ben Hardin Helm, was one of the Orphan Brigade's generals until he was killed at Chickamauga. Another of its generals, Roger W. Hanson, was killed in the tragic Confederate charge during the final day of battle at Stones River. Of the 1,200 members of the Orphan Brigade engaged in the charge, 400 did not return. Division commander and former U.S. vice president John C. Breckinridge rode among the survivors crying, "My poor orphans! My poor orphans!" Of the original 4,000 member force, only 500 survived the war.<BR><BR><b>Shipping:</b> Small Flat (<a target="_blank" href="http://www.heritageauctions.com/common/shipping.php">view shipping information</a>)
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