Insignia of the Medical Corps of the Confederate Army and Navy.
In conclusion, comrades, the speaker would urge the adoption of some badge or device which should serve to distinguish the survivors of the
Medical Corps of the Southern Confederacy.
The objects of this reunion and of this association are historical, benevolent and social, and the medal or seal which marks its realization should embody within a brief circle these sacred and noble sentiments.
The outer circle bearing the words ‘
Medical Corps Confederate States of America, Army and Navy, 1861-1865,’ expresses the great historical fact, that within the circle of these four years a nation was born and exhibited to the world its existence, power and valor, in its well organized and efficient army and navy.
Within the brief space of time, 1861-1865, was enacted one of the greatest and bloodiest revolutions of the ages, and a peculiar form of civilization passed forever away.
Upon the silver field and embraced by the outer circle rests a golden cross with thirteen stars—the
Southern cross—the cross of the battle flag of the Southern Confederacy.
The reverse of the medal bears at the apex of the circle the letters U. C. V., and at the line under, the date 1890.
The laurel leaf of the outer circle surrounds the venerated and golden head of the great Southern captain,
General Robert E. Lee, who was the type of all that was heroic, noble and benevolent in the Confederate Army and Navy.
Grand in battle and victory,
General Lee was equally grand
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and noble in defeat; and his farewell address to his soldiers has been the most powerful utterance for the pacification of the warlike elements of his country and the rehabilitation of the waste places of the
South by the peaceful arts of agriculture, manufacturers and commerce.
Whilst the
Southern armies were wreathed in victory, the thunderbolts of war, which made wide gaps through their ranks, inflicted irreparable damage.
When the brave soldiers of the
South sank to rest upon the bosom of their mother earth, they rose no more; the magnificent hosts which watered the plains, valleys and mountains with their precious blood were the typical and noble representatives of their race.
Whilst the
North increased in resources and men, as the war went on, the Southern Confederacy was penetrated and rent along all her borders; her fertile plains were overrun and desolated, her gallant sons fell before the iron tempest of war, and her final overthrow and subjugation followed as the night does the day.
Comrades, survivors of the
Medical Corps of the Confederate Army and Navy, is it not our solemn duty to commemorate the deeds of our comrades who yielded up their lives in the struggle for Southern independence, on the battle-field, in the hospital and in the military prison?
Shall we not adopt a simple but imperishable medal which may be handed down to our children?
