The National tribune., 1892-03-17
3HaCORPS BADGES.
Gen. Butterfleld Explains How He Came to Inven,
Them.

Gen. Daniel Butterfeld, who is the acknowl
| edged originator of corps badges, gives the fol
| lowing interesting account of how they came
| into use
"The idea and design of marking the troops
ambulances, artillery, guns, caissons, baggage
| wagons, ETC., with q distinctive mark to show
| their corps and division, and also headquar.
tiers flag to show from distance the location
and whereabouts of corps, division, and brigade
headquarters, occurred to me early in the war,
and l urged it upon Gen. Mcclellan and dis
cussed the subject with others. Gen. Mcclellan
did not adopt it. Gen. Kearny put red patch
ON his division This troops only. When l was
| called to Headquarters of the Army Of the Po-
| tomac as it's Chief-of- Staff determined to put
| my plan and idea into effect at once, and Gen.
Hooker, then commanding approved it.
The army consisted of the First, Second,
| Third, Fifth, Sixth, Eleventh, and Twelfth
| Corps. The selection of design for the First
| Corps was simply the first thing thought of.
A disk had no particular reason or cause. A
| patch or lozenge was reserved for the Third
| Corps, as Kearny's Division was of that corps,
SO that the mark he had put on his men need
not be changed, and that incident fixed the color
of the mark for the First Division red the
white for the Second, and blue for the Third,
following naturally as National colors.
For the Second Corps the trefoil was chosen
as sort of shamrock, there being many troops
of Irish origin or descent in that corps, and
wished the marks to become popular with the
commands.
sin the Fifth Corps, In my old brigade, was
my old regiment, the 18th N. Y, which had
commanded as militia regiment before the
war. l had decorated many of its officers and
men with bronze and gold Maltese crosses for
efficient and thorough discharge of duty prior
to this, so / reserved the Maltese cross for them
for that reason.
"The badges or marks OF the other corps
named herein were chosen by me for no rea-
son other than to have some pleasing form or
shape, easily and quickly distinguished from
the others, and capable of aiding in the esprit
de corps and elevation of the morale and dis
cipline of the army l desired to establish,
which at that time generally speaking, was
simply abominable, desertions occurring by
thousands, and money and clothing being sent
for the purpose, which we seized and held at
Headquarters, delaying the money and keep
ing back the civilians clothing to prevent its
use for desertion.
Through these measures with others, the
morale of the army and its tone was restored
and improved to very high standard-hgher,
l think, than it ever had been before after.
"With corps marks or badges, other than
those / have here referred to, l had
no part in designation, except in the
Fourteenth Corps (Gen. George III. Thomas).
The General and myself had served as
brigade commanders IN PatterSonS column In
81, and were personally we'll acquainted.
When we took the Eleventh and Twelfth Corps
from the Army of the Potomac to reinforce
the Army of the Cumberland, latter Chcka-
magua) Gen. Thomas first saw and liked the
idea of our corps marks and badges. He d.
rected Gen. Whipple, his Adjutant- General, to
prepare one for the Fourteenth. Gen. Whipple
had many designs of geometrical form, but
Gen. Thomas did not seem to like them, and
nj inn Tn mi nd m I
his forms, and told him that had commanded
the Fourteenth Corps. which stood as firm as
GA oak at Chickamauga as it was then spoken
Of l would give them the acorn for badge in
honor of their bravery. Gen. Thomas said:
That is what we will do; let it be the acorn
mentioned, had nothing to do with the desig-
nation of forms and marks, save that the idea
and custom arose with me and was followed by
Others"