Circular bar-pin badge, 1.5” in diameter, of silver-plated metal, w/red (1^st Division) enameled center. Observe side, both metal and red enamel, exhibit wear. Reverse side light grime & verdigris. Else VG.

The Union I (or First Corps) was organized in 1862 and commanded initially by General Irwin McDowell. Though various of it divisions were shifted about during McClellan’s ’62 Peninsula Campaign, the Corps was back together and solidified in the Wake of 2^nd Manassas. It fought at South Mountain and Antietam in September, and also Fredericksburg in December. Although it did not participate at Chancellorsville, under the command of Gen. John Reynolds, the First was front and center and the first Union Corps on the field at Gettysburg, where it was out numbered and battered into a ragged retreat through town at the close the first day’s action. In the spring of 1864 this battered remnant of the old First Corps was reorganized into two divisions transferred to the 5^th Corps just prior to Grant’s Overland campaign. Nonetheless, First Corps veterans remained proud of their Corps, and especially their brave but doomed first day stand at Gettysburg. In the post-war period, many old First Corps vets preferred their old circular Corps badge to any they might have worn later..

Solid Union First Corps collectible. In black Riker box, 4.5 x 5.5”, w/white foam backing.  [JP]

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