The Military Order of the Loyal Legion of the United States was formed in Philadelphia by Union army officers in the wake of Lincoln’s assassination and modeled on the Society of the Cincinnati, which had been founded by officers who had served in the Revolution. The Order was initially composed of three classes. 1) “Original Companions of the First Class:” officers who served in the Civil War or enlisted men who served and were subsequently commissioned in the U.S. Army, along with “Hereditary Companions of the First Class,” eldest direct male descendants of deceased members of the First Class. 2) “Companions of the Second Class,” eldest male descendants of living Original Companions. 3) “Third Class,” honorary civilian members.

Qualifications changed slightly over time. Primogeniture was done away with and the Third Class ceased to receive new members after 1890. More relevant to this medal, as Original Companions died and the Order came to consist only of descendants, the Second Class fell from use as well. This is a scarce example of that Companion of the Second Class medal, looking very much like that of the First Class, but placing the blue stripe in the center of the ribbon. This one is numbered, #8250, but we do not know of a list of these numbers.

The medal itself is in excellent condition and has great color. The pin bar is complete, but the ribbon is a little threadbare along the top edge of the bar and shows color loss in horizontal lines across the fabric as shown. Nevertheless, this is a fairly scarce medal and an interesting part of the history of the order.

Please see our other listings for a number of items we recently acquired from the collections of the MOLLUS War Library and Museum in Philadelphia.  [sr] [ph:m]