The Project Gutenberg e-Book of The Medallic History Of The United States Of America, 1776-1876. Author: J. F. Loubat, LL.D.

Footnote 29: The "stars and stripes." Congress passed, June 14, 1777, the following resolution:

Resolved, That the flag of the thirteen United States be thirteen stripes, alternate red and white; that the union be thirteen stars, white on a blue field, representing a new constellation.

And it was to this new American flag that General Burgoyne surrendered.

Congress changed the flag by the following act, which was approved January 13, 1794:

Be it enacted by the Senate and the House of Representatives of the United States in Congress assembled, That from and after the first day of May, anno Domini one thousand seven hundred and ninety-five, the flag of the United States be fifteen stripes, alternate red and white; that the union be fifteen stars, white on a blue field.

Congress made a second change by an act approved April 14, 1818:

Be it enacted by the Senate and the House of Representatives of the United States in Congress assembled, That from and after the fourth day of July next, the flag of the United States be thirteen horizontal stripes, alternate red and white; that the union be twenty stars, white on a blue field.

Section 2. And be it further enacted, That on the admission of every new State into the Union, one star be added to the union of the flag; and that such addition shall take place on the fourth day of July then next succeeding such admission.(Back)

Footnote 30: See Introduction, pages x, xi, xiii, xvi, xvii, xxx, xxxv; and B, xxxvi.(Back)

Footnote 31: The victory at Saratoga is also commemorated in the Libertas Americana medal, No. 14, page 86, which was struck in Paris in 1783, under the direction of Dr. Franklin.(Back)

Footnote 32: See Introduction, pages x, xix, xxviii, xxx, xxxv; D, xli; and H, xlvii.(Back)

Footnote 33: See Introduction, pages ix, x, xi, xii, xv, xxiii, xxviii, xxxv; G, xlv; and H, xlvii.(Back)

Footnote 34: The resolution of Congress voting this medal, and the official reports of the taking of Stony Point, are given under No. 3, page 14.(Back)

Footnote 35: See Introduction, pages x, xix, xxviii, xxx, xxxv; D, xli; and H, xlvii.(Back)

Footnote 36: The resolution of Congress voting this medal, and the official reports of the taking of Stony Point, are given under No. 3, page 14.(Back)

Footnote 37: See Introduction, pages xxiii, xxviii, xxxv; and H, xlvii.(Back)

Footnote 38: Properly Paulus Hook (Hoeck), now Jersey City. It derived its name from Michael Paulusen, who was commissary there in 1633.(Back)

Footnote 39: See Introduction, page xxxv.(Back)

Footnote 40: See Introduction, pages x, xi, xii, xiii, xvii, xx, xxi, xxii, xxxv; B, xxxvi; D, xli; E, xliv; and F, xlv.(Back)

Footnote 41: See Introduction, pages x, xi, xii, xvii, xxiii, xxviii, xxxv; B, xxxvi; G, xlv; and H, xlvii.(Back)

Footnote 42: The resolution of Congress voting this medal, and the official report of the battle of the Cowpens, are given under No. 8, page 40.(Back)

Footnote 43: See Introduction, pages x, xi, xii, xvii, xxiii, xxviii, xxxv; B, xxxvi; G, xlv; and H, xlvii.(Back)

Footnote 44: The resolution of Congress voting this medal, and the official report of the battle of the Cowpens, are given under No. 8, page 40.(Back)

Footnote 45: See Introduction, pages x, xi, xiii, xvi, xvii, xviii, xxi, xxviii, xxxv; B, xxxvi; C, xli; F, xlv; and H, xlvii.(Back)

Footnote 46: Colonel Morris's name does not appear in the resolution of Congress. See No. 11, page 50.(Back)

Footnote 47: See Introduction, page x.(Back)

Footnote 48: These copies were obtained through the politeness of Baron de Zuijlen de Nijevelt, Envoy Extraordinary and Minister Plenipotentiary of the Netherlands to France. The original record of the action of the State of Utrecht could not be found in the Royal Archives.(Back)

Footnote 49: The date should be October 8, not 7, as will be seen by the official documents below.(Back)

Footnote 50: Virgil, Æneid, Book VI, 620. This mutilated quotation is scarcely intelligible. The entire verse is: "Discite justitiam, moniti, et non temnere divos." (Admonished [by me], learn justice and not to despise the gods).(Back)

Footnote 51: See Introduction, page x.(Back)

Footnote 52: Horace, Book III, Ode iv, 20.(Back)

Footnote 53: Dates of the surrender of the British armies at Saratoga and at Yorktown.(Back)

Footnote 54: See Introduction, pages x, xi, and xxii.(Back)

Footnote 55: The surrender of Lord Cornwallis, at Yorktown, which took place October 19, 1781.(Back)

Footnote 56: See Introduction, pages x and xxiii.(Back)

Footnote 57: For original documents, see No. 16, page 95.(Back)

Footnote 58: See Introduction, pages x and xxiii.(Back)

Footnote 59: See Admiral Jones's curious observations on the position of the accessories on the reverse, in his letter to Jefferson, dated August 29,/September 9, 1788, page 112.(Back)

Footnote 60: See Introduction, pages x, xix, xx, xxi, xxviii; D, xli; E, xliv; F, xlv; and H, xlvii.(Back)

Footnote 61: Captain John Paul Jones was the only American officer decorated by the King of France during the Revolutionary War.(Back)

Footnote 62: The thirteen original States.(Back)

Footnote 63: See Introduction, page xxvi.(Back)

Footnote 64: The thirteen original States.(Back)

Footnote 65: See Introduction, pages x, xxix and xxx.(Back)

Footnote 66: Minister of Foreign Affairs of Louis XVI.(Back)

Footnote 67: The original of this letter, without date or signature, which is in French, and which was communicated to me in Paris by M. Narcisse Dupré, is undoubtedly in the handwriting of Mr. William Short.(Back)

Footnote 68: Galuchet, prepared shark-skins.(Back)

Footnote 69: Former weights of France: 1 livre = 2 marcs = 16 ounces = 128 gros = 384 deniers = 9,216 grains.(Back)

Footnote 70: Former moneys of France: 1 livre = 20 sous = 240 deniers or 48 liards. 1 livre = 0.9876 francs.(Back)

Footnote 71: See Introduction, pages xxiii and xxxi.(Back)

Footnote 72: See Introduction, pages xxiv and xxvi.(Back)

Footnote 73: See Introduction, pages xxiv and xxx.(Back)

Footnote 74: See Introduction, page xxiv.(Back)

Footnote 75: As this legend refers to two events, Hull's celebrated escape from a British fleet in July, and his capture of the Guerrière in August, 1812, the official reports of both those important affairs are given.(Back)

Footnote 76: See Introduction, page xxiv.(Back)

Footnote 77: The silver medals are copies of the gold ones given to the captains of the respective ships.(Back)

Footnote 78: The resolution of Congress voting this medal is given under No. 25, page 154.

Footnote 79: The resolution of Congress voting this medal is given under No. 25, page 154.(Back)

Footnote 80: The silver medals are copies of the one in gold given to Captain Bainbridge.(Back)

Footnote 81: Virgil, Æneid, Book IX, 641.(Back)

Footnote 82: It is singular that on some of the silver coins of Great Britain the abbreviation Brit. (Britanniarum) is spelled with one t, and on some of the copper coins, with two t's, thus, Britt.(Back)

Footnote 83: The silver medals are copies of the one in gold given to Lieutenant McCall.(Back)

Footnote 84: The resolution of Congress voting this medal, and the official reports of the capture of the Boxer, are given under No. 29, page 171.(Back)

Footnote 85: The silver medals are copies of the ones in gold given to the captains of the respective ships.(Back)

Footnote 86: Nil actum credens quum quid superesset agendum. Lucan, Pharsalia, Book II, 657.(Back)

Footnote 87: The resolution of Congress voting this medal, and the official reports of the action on Lake Erie, are given under No. 31, page 176.(Back)

Footnote 88: Horace, Book II, Ode II, 13.(Back)

Footnote 89: The silver medals are copies of the one in gold given to Captain Lawrence.(Back)

Footnote 90: The silver medals are copies of the one in gold given to Captain Macdonough.(Back)

Footnote 91: The resolution of Congress voting this medal, and the official reports of the victory on Lake Champlain, are given under No. 34, page 189.(Back)

Footnote 92: Virgil, Æneid, Book I, 464.(Back)

Footnote 93: The resolution of Congress voting this medal, and the official reports of the action on Lake Champlain, are given under No. 34, page 189.(Back)

Footnote 94: The silver medals are copies of the one in gold to Captain Warrington.(Back)

Footnote 95: The silver medals are copies of the medal in gold to Captain Blakeley.(Back)

Footnote 96: Captain Treat was tried by a court-martial and honorably acquitted.(Back)

Footnote 97: The resolution of Congress voting this medal, and the official reports of the battles of Chippewa, Niagara, and Erie, are given under No. 39, page 203.(Back)

Footnote 98: The resolution of Congress voting this medal, and the official reports of the battles of Chippewa, Niagara and Erie, are given under No. 39, page 203, and No. 44, page 226.(Back)

Footnote 99: The resolution of Congress voting this medal, and the official reports of the battles of Chippewa, Niagara, and Erie, are given under No. 39, page 203.(Back)

Footnote 100: See Introduction, page ix.(Back)

Footnote 101: The resolution of Congress voting this medal, and the official reports of the battles of Chippewa and Niagara, are given under No. 39, page 203.(Back)

Footnote 102: See No. 62, page 304.(Back)

Footnote 103: The resolution of Congress voting this medal is given under No. 39, page 203.(Back)

Footnote 104: U. C., Abbreviation of Upper Canada.(Back)

Footnote 105: The resolution of Congress voting this medal is given under No. 39, page 203.(Back)

Footnote 106: The silver medals are copies of the gold medal given to Captain Stewart.(Back)

Footnote 107: The silver medals are copies of the one in gold to Captain Biddle.(Back)

Footnote 108: The resolution of Congress voting this medal and the official reports of the Battle of the Thames are given under No. 50, page 254.(Back)

Footnote 109: De Puymaurin was director of the Paris Mint at the time this medal was struck.(Back)

Footnote 110: See Introduction, pages x and xxiii.(Back)

Footnote 111: Virgil, Æneid, Book II, 6.(Back)

Footnote 112: General Harrison, the ninth President, died one month after his inauguration, and no Indian peace medal of him was struck.(Back)

Footnote 113: The Libertas Americana medal.(Back)

Footnote 114: See Introduction, pages xxiv and xxv.(Back)

Footnote 115: See Nos. 60, page 290, and 63, page 336.(Back)

Footnote 116: See Introduction, page ix.(Back)

Footnote 117: See Introduction, page viii.(Back)

Footnote 118: The Latin proverb is BIS DAT QUI CITO DAT.(Back)

Footnote 119: See Introduction, page viii.(Back)

Footnote 120: See Introduction, page ix.(Back)

Footnote 121: See Enclosure, page 414.(Back)

Footnote 122: See Introduction, page viii.(Back)

Footnote 123: The Most Honorable Military Order of the Bath is composed of three classes:

The First Class: (G. C. B.), to consist of not more than seventy-two Knights Grand Crosses, exclusive of the Sovereign and Princes of the Blood.

The Second Class: (K. C. B) Knights Commanders.

The Third Class: (C. B.) Companions of the Bath.(Back)

Footnote 124: During the war the campaign badge was of felt, red for the first division, white for the second, and blue for the third. For dress occasions it was of silver, with the color of the division inserted in the badge. The felt badge was worn on the right side of the hat, the silver one as in the plate. By means of the letters, figures, and badge, any one could tell, at a glance, the army corps, division, brigade, regiment, and company, to which a soldier belonged, and the State from which he came.

After the war Congress passed the following resolution:

Resolved, by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States in Congress assembled: That all who served as officers, non-commissioned officers, privates, or other enlisted men, in the regular army, volunteer, or militia forces of the United States, during the war of the Rebellion, and have been honorably discharged from the service or remain still in the same, shall be entitled to wear, on occasions of ceremony, the distinctive army badge ordered for or adopted by the army corps or division, respectively, in which they served.

Approved July 25, 1868.(Back)