the ORDERS and DECORATIONS awarded them previously by GER- MAN SOV~REIGNS as a sign of protest.

The last award of the ORDER OF THE RED EAGLE UITH BRIL- LIA~TTS was made on April 30, 1918 to the SWEDISH Lieutenant General BRA}TDSTROM ?the received the FIRST CLASS of the ORDERwith BRILLIANTS.

The illustration shows the CROSS OF THE FIRST CLASS of the ORDER OF THE RED EAGLE WI%~ BRILLIANTS. The CROWN is adorned with fifty (~O) stones, and the center medallion is studed with nineteen (19) stones. ! Announcement By letter dated August 3, 19~6, Mr. W. W. Mac Kay, Hon- orary Life Member of O.M.S.A., has been made an Honorary Fellow of the Smithsonian Institution, Doctor Leo fiard Oar, michael, Secretary and Executive Head of the Smithsonian Institution, along with a group of his associates, confer- ed this high honor on Mr. Mac Kay at the latterls resid- ence in Arlington, Virginia.

Dr. Oarmichael has also appointed I~. ~c Kay to the position of Chairman of the Co~mittee on Orders, Decora- tions and Medals, and has graciously permitted Mr. Mac Kay to propose to the Institution the names of othe~ members to serve on that Committee. Messrs. A. A; Miller of England and Hans M. F. Schulman of New York have been requested to so serve and have accepted. Their names are now before the Institution for approval. As other members are so honored they shall be mentioned thru "THE ~DAL COLLECTOR."

As this is "T~ ORDERS A~.D ~ZDALS SOCIETY OF A~’~RIOA EXHIBIT" it is hoped that other members will see. fit %o donate, or bequeath, 1o our exhibit pieces notnow repres- ented in the exhibit. THIS IS NOW A SOCIETY EFFORT!

The Officials of the Smithsonian Institution, thruDr. Oarmichae!, have granted 1o the Co~nittee the right to sub m_I% for publication Monograph sized articles on 0rders, De corations and Medals. Such articles to be highly accurate, well illustrated and complete. Due credit will be given to the author, but nQ payment will be made. Anyone Wlshi~g to submit suStable material is asked to send it to ~. F. W. MacKay, 4000 l~ssachusetts Ave., N.N., Washington, D.C. 7 by F. yon Allendorfer

On , 1876 the Sioux Indian Nation under SITTING BULL and RAIN-IN-THE.FACE massacred five troops of the 7th Cavalry under the command of Colonel GEORGE AR~TRONG CUSTER at a little known place in Montana called LITTLE BIG HORN. The other troops of the 7th, under the command of ~jor ~tRCUS RENO made a brave stand and it is to these men that the ~,~DALS OF HONOR were awarded for various deeds of outstanding bravery. The complete remainder of this group were recommended for the award but the final decision trimmed the list do~,~ to 26 re- cipients. They are as follows: :

BANCROFT, Neil HUTCHINSON, Rufus BRANT, Abram MECHLIN, Henry CALLAN, Thomas ~dRRAY, Thomas CRISh~LL, Benjamin PYM, James CUNN!NGHAM, Charles ROY, Stanislaus DEETLINE, Frederick SCOTT, George EVA~L~S , William STEV~{S, Thomas W. GEIGER, George STEWART, Ben ~ amin GOLDEN, T.N. THOMPSON, Peter HANLEY, Richard TOLAN, Frank IDhRRIS, David W. VOIT, Otto }~RRIS, William ~’.rELCH, Charles H. HOLDEN, Henry WINDOLPH, Charles Eighteen of the ~DAL OF HONOR winners were Native born, Ireland produced three; Germany two; France, England and Scotland one each making a total of twenty’ six. This writer laaows where tkree of the medals are de- posited today and would welcome correspondence as to the whereabouts of the other twenty-three; whether they re- pose in private or public collections.

8 The medals that were issued to CY~&RLES WI~LOL~{ and JAMES PYM can be seen in the mnseum maintained by the United States Department of the Interior at the battleground of the ~ITTLE BIG HORN. ~qe official nmme is the "CUSTER BATTLEFIELD NATIONAL MONUmeNT AT CROW AGENCY, ~NTANA". In addition the museum exhib- its medals which were won by members of the 7th U.S. Cavalry dating from the Indian Campaigns to the Korean Campaign.

The third medal which this writer knows about is the one awarded to NElL BANCROFT. It lies in the dusty files of the National Archives as an unclaimed award alon~ with the yellowing records of this soldier. The medal was issued and reached the 7th Cavalry regi- ment on October ~, 1878, BANCROFT had completed his five-year enlistment and for al! historical purposes dropped from the pa~es of history. No one ever came forward to claim the medal and today it reposes, and shall probably so do for a long time, in the National Archives in Washington, D. C.

It is interesting to note that in the massacre of the LITTLE BIG HOP~, the Generals brother, THOMAS CUSTER, was also killed. He was a two-time win- ner of the$~DAL OF HONOR.

An epic of American history at its finest; and where are the rest of those medals today?

-oOo--

EDITORS NOTE : :

According to the Army ~DAL OF HONOR publication of the U.S. Government, 20 were issued October 5, 1878; 2 issued December 2, 1876, and one on October 15, 1878, December 21, 1895 and October 24, 18.069 date of i~sue on one unl~qo- R.E.~.

9