Fellow Sharpshooters
On the
Civil War Badges website is an original 3rd Corps Union Badge, No. 267, that belonged to Capt. Bernard J. Reid of the 63rd Pennsylvania Infantry, then commissioned to Staff of the 57th PA infantry.
The 3rd Corps Union was formed in September 2, 1863 at White Sulfur Springs, outside Warrenton, Virginia. The organization was established to provide financial support to officers, widow/orphans from the 1st and 2nd Divisions of 3rd Army Corps. The organization was formalized on September 6, with thirty six officers electing Gen. Dan Sickles, president; vice president, General David Birney, and Captain James C. Briscoe, Corresponding Secretary. By December 1, 1863, 347 officers of the 3rd AC belonged to the Union.
The first lot of Tiffany and Co. badges arrived at Brandy Station on January 26, 1864; and a total of 212 were sold between then and May 1865. They could only be purchased from the Treasurer of the association. The badge cost $25, and each badge was numbered. The corresponding names of the officers who purchased the badges are listed in the
Constitution of the Third Army Corps. The organization continued well after the War, the last activity was noted in 1910.
The order was a 'benevolent one' to provide funds to officers captured, or their families should they be killed in action. The first benefit was paid to Mrs. Caspar Trepp, whose husband, Major Caspar Trepp, commanding the 1st USSS killed at Mine Run on November 30, 1863.
Accompanying the 'mint' surviving 3rd Corps Union badge is an article of the battlefield recovery of a 3rd Corps Union badge belonging to Major William Shreve of the 2nd USSS. At some point during the fighting in the Wilderness, Shreve’s badge (97) tore off the attachment bar and ribbon.
Here is the link:
https://civilwarbadges.com/cgi-bin/Display_item.asp?11527#gallery-2For those interested, I’ve discovered the
History of the Third Corps Union, published in 1913 by former USSS officer, William Shreve, the last Secretary of the Third Corps Union.
https://tile.loc.gov/storage-services/public/gdcmassbookdig/storyofthirdarmy02shre/storyofthirdarmy02shre.pdfBill Skillman