the history of Romanian orders and medals starts in 1851 with the Medal of Skill and Perseverance. The attempts of Alexandru Ioan Cuza to establish a national award system In January 1859, the Romanian principalities of Wallachia and Moldova were united against the wishes of the Great Powers by the election of Alexandru Ioan Cuza as prince in both states. Right after this double election, Cuza resumed the efforts of Barbu Stirbei to found a national award. Even if no awards were officially awarded during Cuza’s reign (1859-1866) he established the first official Romanian medal (Pro Virtute Militari) that became the Figure 2: Reverse of the first Romanian medal. first to be awarded after his abdication. Cuza’s other the grace of God) that continued on the reverse: DOMN projects were the core of the national system still in use STZPINITOR A TOATZ ЦARA ROMANEASCZ (ruler of today. A total of six awards and projects are known from the entire Wallachia). The center of the reverse (Figure the time of Alexandru Ioan Cuza. 2) has on four lines: ПENTRU / DESTOINIЧIE / ШI OSARDIE / 1851 (For skill and perseverance 1851). Above The Order of the Golden Sheaf (1859) the text is engraved the Eye of Providence, a symbol used by both the Freemasons and the local Orthodox Church From the first year of his rule in the United Principalities, (also found of the United States one dollar bill). Under Cuza tried to exercise the right of an independent the text is an oak branch merged with a palm branch. We sovereign to mint coins and grant awards. He sent Victor don’t know how many of these medals were minted, but Place (French consul in the Moldavian capital of Iasi and two genuine examples are preserved in the collections a good friend of the prince) to Paris to secure a credit for of museums in Bucharest. The color of the ribbon is the United Principalities that was to be used to produce unknown. coins and medals in one of the Paris mints. The consul managed to get a credit of 60000 francs with a favorable The text on the medal suggests it was meant to reward interest rate, but the loan was rejected by the Moldavian special merit, but nothing else is known about it. The Chamber of Deputies. medal is not mentioned at all in the correspondence of Barbu Stirbei in the documents from his reign at the However, the project of establishing an award was not National Archives or in the history books dedicated to abandoned. In the spring of 1859, the Foreign Minister him. We can only guess that Stirbei wanted to establish of Moldova (the two principalities still had separate it in secret in order not to provoke the Russians and the governments), poet Vasile Alecsandri, asked emperor Turks.Perhaps he planned to wait for a favorable moment Napoleon III to accept the insignia of an order that Prince that never came, as Wallachia was again occupied by Cuza planned to establish, and to permit French citizens to foreign armies at the beginning of the Crimean War in wear it. After some consideration, the emperor accepted 1853 and the prince had to flee the country. Judging both requests. from the style and execution of the medal, it was perhaps minted in one of the German-speaking countries, possibly On December 30, 1859 Alecsandri proposed the founding in Vienna or Berlin. of the Order of the Golden Sheaf (Jerba de Aur). The name was chosen to show “the fertility of our lands” and A partial list of awards received by Barbu Stirbei includes the minister’s report described it as: the Russian Order of St. Anne 1st Class and 2nd Class, the Russian Order of St. Stanislas 2nd Class, the Commander “a five-pointed star, in the national colors, having on one side the arms of both Principalities: the aurochs and Class of the Order of Nisam-i-Iftihar, and the Medjidie the eagle with the motto Onoare si Patrie (Honour and Order 1st Class o, the 1st Class of the Greek Order of the Motherland) chosen by his Highness the Prince for the Redeemer. No doubt the tradition and prestige of these Romanian army, and on the other side, in relief, a golden orders inspired his attempt to establish a national medal. sheaf with the motto In Uno Omnia.” These efforts would be continued by Cuza and Carol I. Even if it represents just an unofficial obscure project, According to Alecsandri, it was the government’s “duty Vol. 66, No. 6 (November-December 2015) 5 to create an honorable national reward that would awaken location in the capital to prevent an eventual breakdown the noblest ambition in the hearts of the people.” The five- of public order. The total number of Romanian troops pointed star design was inspired by the French Legion present was 900 men, while the Ottomans had a force of of Honour. around 6000, including cavalry and artillery units. The orders of General Christian Tell were for Golescu to wait The project was approved by the Moldovan government for the Turks to arrive and to surrender at the barracks, led by Ion Ghica and sent to the Central Commission at while Zaganescu was to lead his unit to Spirii Hill and Focsani, the first common institution of the Principalities lay down his weapons. whose task was to unify their legislation ahead of the full union. The order was meant to serve “as a reward for At the arrival of the Ottomans, Colonel Golescu disobeyed military and civil servants of the state.” his orders and refused to surrender, telling envoy Kerim Pasha that the duty of a soldier is to die fighting and Nothing else is known about this project, and for some he would only be disarmed by force. Impressed by his reason it was never discussed by the Central Commission. determination, the Ottoman commander decided to avoid It was probably abandoned due to the strong opposition of combat and ordered his units to proceed to the center of the Ottoman Empire and the difficult diplomatic context the town. As the Turks start marching, they encountered (as the personal union under Cuza was not yet accepted by the firemen company of Zaganescu, which was returning the European powers), anticipated by Victor Place from to their barracks as ordered. the start of his mission. It’s unlikely that any prototype was ever produced. According to a participant, Dimitrie Papazoglu, the battle started with a minor incident. In March, Senior Pro Virtute Militari (1860/1866) Lieutenant Dincă Balaşan touched a Turk major with his elbow and the Turk hit him with his sword scabbard. The The Battle of Spirii Hill on September 13, 1848 has Romanian officer then killed the major and also shot at gained legendary status in Romania. This fight against Kerim Pasha, wounding his horse. The firemen company the odds was the first combat action of a local unit since was attacked by the entire Ottoman army and withdrew the Middle Ages and marks the rebirth of the Romanian fighting to the barracks on Spirii Hill where they were Army. Naturally, the first official award of the country is joined by the infantry garrison and continued to resist. linked to this event. Colonel Golescu was badly wounded at the start of the fight and command was assumed by Captain I. Deivos. The clash of September 13th represents the end of the After about three hours of fighting, the Romanian units Wallachian Revolution of 1848. After the revolutionary ran out of ammunition and scattered, allowing the enemy government failed to obtain Russian recognition, Ottoman to occupy the barracks. There were 80 soldiers and two armies crossed the Danube and entered the principality. officers dead on the Romanian side, while the Turks lost Their main goal was to precede the expected invasion around 200 men. of the Russian troops. Since resisting the overwhelming combined armies of the two empires was futile, the The idea to award a medal to commemorate the battle revolutionary government decided to send most troops was suggested by Pavel Zaganescu, the commander of away from the capital (Bucharest) to the town of the firemen. In 1859, he asked liberal politician Vasile Ramnicu Valcea, where a force of about 6000 soldiers Boerescu to make a proposal in the Elected Assembly and volunteers were assembling under the command of of Wallachia that stated “the country must do its best to Gheorghe Magheru. encourage the part of the population that carries arms, who sooner or later can be called to form our national Even if the battle is today associated with the military army.” The project was supported by the future Prime firemen, most of the Romanian units engaged were Minister and reformer Mihail Kogalniceanu. actually line infantry. When the Turkish army entered Bucharest, the barracks of Spirii Hill at the outskirts of On May 24, 1860 a decree was signed by Alexandru Ioan the city was occupied by a battalion from the 2nd Infantry Cuza establishing the first official Romanian medal. It was Regiment (about 600 troops) and the 7th Company from to be awarded to all the survivors of the battle of 1848. the 1st Infantry Regiment (150 men), under the command The soldiers wounded on Dealul Spirii also received a of Colonel Radu Golescu. The company of military lifetime pension of 15 lei per month, with the severely firemen, with 165 troops under Captain Pavel Zaganescu, wounde who were unable to earn their living granted an was stationed in the police headquarters in a different extra one leu per day.