ing on the obverse the effigy of the queen surrounded by the inscription, "Elizabeth D. G. Angliae F. ET HI. REG.," and on the reverse a scene representing the ark floating on the waves in the rays of the sun, surrounded by the words, "SAEVAS TRANQUILLA PER VINDAS."

A little later, in 1630, Gustavus Adolphus, "The Whirlwind of the North," conferred a military medal upon certain of his officers and men of the victorious Army of Sweden which, guided by his superb military genius, swept over Europe and founded a new school of military tactics. Other nations of Europe followed the custom of conferring medals for war service until it became universal.

In many of these medals the effigy of the sovereign was used as the principal motif for the design shown on the obverse and we find this custom still prevailing even in republics, as evidenced by the head of Lincoln upon the U. S. Army Civil War medals. During the 330 years since the issue of the "Ark and Flood" medal by Queen Elizabeth the British Government has conferred upon her soldiers and sailors some 200 decorations to commemorate victories on sea and land or as rewards for individual acts of heroism in battle in her many wars, great and small. Following this lead other nations have conferred many such decorations, but none carried the custom to so great an extent as Great Britain.

The first medal conferred by the government of the United States was authorized by a resolution of Congress on March 25, 1776, when the news reached the seat of government at Philadelphia that the British had evacuated Boston on March 17, 1776. The resolution provided that the thanks of Congress be presented to General George Washington, commander-in-chief of the Continental Army, with a gold medal to commemorate the event. The obverse of the medal bore the effigy of Washington surrounded by the inscription, in Latin, "The American Congress to George Washington, the Commander-in-Chief of the Army and the Assertor of Freedom," and the reverse bore a design depicting the British troops embarking in their ships and the American troops entering the town from the landward side, surrounded by the legend, "The enemy for the first time put to flight."

The next medal authorized by Congress was a gold one, presented to Captain John Paul Jones with the thanks of Congress

after the great sea fighter in the U. S. S. Bonhomme Richard had fought his famous battle with H. M. S. Serapis, September 23, 1779, as a result of which the Bonhomme Richard sank and the victorious American captain and his crew transferred to the Serapis and took her into a French port. It was during this battle that the British captain, Pearson, of the Serapis with his ship lying alongside of the Bonhomme Richard, noting that the latter ship was on fire and that her gunfire had greatly diminished, called upon the American ship to surrender. With characteristic courage and tenacity Captain John Paul Jones shouted back, "I have not yet begun to fight!" This reply encouraged the crew of the Richard to redouble their efforts and resulted in victory for them even with the loss of their own ship.

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Thus was born one of the three rallying cries of the American Navy, the other two being the words of Captain Lawrence of the U. S. S. Chesapeake, who during the battle with H. M. S. Shannon on June 1, 1813, was mortally wounded and while being carried below decks cried out to his men, Don't give up the ship!" and the order of Admiral Farragut at the Battle of Mobile, August 5, 1864, "Damn the torpedoes, go ahead!" given when the captain of his flagship, the Hartford, had reported to him that a torpedo had exploded in the channel ahead of the fleet.

During the War of 1812 a number of gold medals were struck in accordance with acts or resolutions of Congress, to be presented to the commanders of the American ships in the naval victories that marked the few bright spots in the history of that war. Among the victors so rewarded and the battles commemorated were Commodore Perry, Battle of Lake Erie, September 10, 1813; Captain James Lawrence, U. S. S. Hornet and H. M. S. Peacock, resulting in the capture of the latter ship, February 24, 1813; Captain Lewis Warrington, U. S. S. Peacock and H. M. S. Epervier, April 20, 1814, this being the same Peacock captured from the British, the battle resulting in the capture of the Epervier; Captain Thomas McDonough, commanding the American squadron at the Battle of Lake Champlain, September 11, 1814; Captain Jacob Jones, U. S. S. Wasp and H. M. S. Frolic, October 12, 1812; Captain Stephen Decatur, U. S. S. United States and H. M. S. Macedonian, October 25, 1812; and Captain Blakely, U. S. S. Wasp and H. M. S. Reindeer, June 28, 1814.

It is interesting to note that the name of each of these great American naval victors is now borne by a destroyer of the United States Navy engaged in the present war and that their victories of over a century ago still live in the hearts of the gallant young Americans aboard these little warships that are maintaining the "Freedom of the Seas" against the deadly menace of the Hun U-boat.

After General Grant had won the Battle of Chattanooga, November 23, 24, 25, 1863, a gold medal with the thanks of Congress was presented to him in commemoration of the great victory, regarded by many students of military strategy as the turning point of the Civil War.

None of these medals were designed as decorations, however; that is, they were not intended to be worn upon the person of the recipient, but were more in the nature of tokens commemorating the victories for which the higher honor, the "thanks of Congress," was extended.

The first medal authorized by the government of the United States to be worn upon the person as a war decoration was the naval medal of honor, provided for in the act of Congress of December 21, 1861, to be "bestowed upon such petty officers, seamen, landsmen and marines as shall most distinguish themselves by their gallantry in action and other seamanlike qualities during the present war." The terms of the law did not permit of the bestowal of this medal upon commissioned or warrant officers, but limited the reward to enlisted men. One thousand dollars was appropriated in the act for the purchase of 200 of these medals of honor.

This medal was struck from bronze metal taken from captured cannon. In form it is a five-pointed star with a circular central medallion, the points of the star being of trefoil shape. On the central medallion is a design representing Minerva standing with her left hand resting upon a fasces and with a shield in her right hand warding off the figure of Discord, the design being surrounded by a circle of 34 stars, one for each state of the Union as it existed in 1861. The rays of the star are decorated with oak and laurel leaves. The medal is suspended by means of a bronze anchor from a clasp made up of bound fasces, having a single five-pointed star at the center; this clasp being suspended in turn by a ribbon from a similar clasp at the upper end for attachment

to the coat, the upper clasp having no star. The ribbon worn with this original medal had 13 vertical stripes of alternate red and white with a band of blue across the top.

This was followed on July 12, 1862, by a resolution of Congress authorizing the President "to cause two thousand medals of honor to be prepared with suitable emblematic devices, and to direct that the same be presented, in the name of Congress, to such non-commissioned officers and privates as shall most distinguish themselves by their gallantry in action, and other soldierlike qualities, during the present insurrection." The medal adopted for this purpose was the same as that above described for the navy medal of honor and the same distinctive ribbon was used at first, but the suspending clasps were of different design. The lower clasp consisted of a trophy of arms, two cannon crossed, a sword, and cannon balls, all surmounted by an eagle with wings lifted; and the upper clasp bore a design of a shield of the United States with a cornucopia on either side.

The reverse side of both the naval and military medals of honor is plain, with the name, rank and regiment or ship of the recipient and the place and date of the act for which the award was made.

The act of Congress of July 16, 1862, contained a proviso reading as follows: "Seamen distinguishing themselves in battle, or by extraordinary heroism in the line of their profession, may be promoted to forward warrant officers, or acting masters' mates, as they may be best qualified, upon the recommendation of their commanding officer, approved by the flag-officer and the department. Upon such promotion they shall receive a gratuity of one hundred dollars and medal of honor to be prepared by the Navy Department."

Thus we see that for both the naval and the military services the award of the medal of honor was still confined to enlisted men. For the army this was changed by the act of Congress of March 3, 1863, which empowered the President to award the medal of honor to officers as well as to enlisted men, the act reading as follows: "And be it further enacted, That the President cause to be struck from the dies recently prepared at the United States mint for that purpose, Medals of Honor' additional to those authorized by the act (resolution) of July twelfth, eighteen hundred and sixty-two, and present the same to such officers, non

commissioned officers and privates as have most distinguished or who may hereafter most distinguish themselves in action."

It will be noted that while the former laws on the subject authorized the award of the medal for acts performed in action during the Civil War, the act of July 16, 1862, provided for the award at any future time to enlisted men of the navy, and that the act of March 3, 1863, made a like provision for the award of the medal to officers and enlisted men of the army.

The acts of Congress referred to as applying to the naval service were embodied in section 1407 of the Revised Statutes, and in 1900 this statute was construed to mean that only enlisted men holding the specific rating, or rank, of "seaman" in the navy were eligible to receive the medal of honor. In order to effectuate the real intent of the original lawmakers, an act was passed by Congress and approved on March 3, 1901, providing, “That any enlisted man of the navy or marine corps who shall have distinguished himself in battle or displayed extraordinary heroism in the line of his profession shall, upon the recommendation of his commanding officer, approved by the flag-officer and the Secretary of the Navy, receive a gratuity and medal of honor as provided for seamen in section fourteen hundred and seven of the Revised Statutes."

Although the law of March 3, 1863, authorized the award of the medal of honor to officers of the army as well as to enlisted men, it was not until March 3, 1915, that authority was given the President to award it to officers of the navy and marine corps, that law reading as follows: "The President of the United States is hereby empowered to prepare a suitable medal of honor to be awarded to any officer of the navy, marine corps, or coast guard who shall have distinguished himself in battle or displayed extraordinary heroism in the line of his profession."

An act of Congress approved May 4, 1898, authorized the Secretary of the Navy to issue to any person in the naval service to whom a medal of honor has been awarded or may hereafter be awarded a rosette or knot to be worn in lieu of the medal and a ribbon to be worn with the medal. This resulted at first in the issue of a knot of red, white and blue ribbon to be worn by holders of the medal of honor when wearing civilian clothes, and later in the issue of a red, white and blue rosette button for the same purpose.