Medal (Presentation medal)

Description

This weighty gold presentation medal is laden with symbolic images and a detailed inscription to commemorate the role of an honor guard -- a volunteer militia, specifically the 2nd Battalion of the 11th Regiment of the New York State Artillery -- in guarding George Washington's campaign tent while displayed at City Hall on February 22, 1832 (100th anniversary of George Washington's birth). The medal unites engraved portrait medallions of Washington and LaFayette beneath the American federal eagle standing on a globe engraved "N./ AMERICA" and "FRANCE" and surrounds them with a wreath of oak and laurel boughs and military trophies. One flag is engraved "NG" for National Guard and their motto Pro Patria et Gloria is engraved in a banner beneath the quartered shield. The opposite side bears a dedication to LaFayette and has two circular suspension loops mounted near the top. The medal's hinged and fitted red leather case lined with blue and white silk also survives. The impressive award cost officers in the honor guard $330.00 and one contemporary account (The New-York Mirror, April 27, 1833) described the gold as "from the mines of North Carolina." It was displayed locally first before being sent to James Fenimore Cooper in Lyon, France where he was the American consul. Cooper hosted a dinner party for Lafayette and others in Paris on November 21, 1832 and ceremoniously presented the medal with the letter from the National Guard signed by Colonel L.W. Stevens, Lt. Colonel M.L. Smith, and Major J. M. Catlin. [See: D. Fennimore, "A solid gold testimonial: an American medal for Lafayette," in The Magazine Antiques, Feb. 1980, 426-430].