The E-Sylum:  Volume 8, Number 53, December 18, 2005, Article 19

THE FIVE MEDALS OF LUCIUS FAIRCHILD

Katie Jaeger writes: "A few weeks ago in The E-Sylum,
Dick Johnson mentioned our joint research trip to the
Tiffany & Co. archives in Parsippany, NJ.  Aside from being
a day spent in exceptional good company, for me it was a
day of piqued interest, not just in my own research and
Dick's, but in a query the archivist posed to us at the
end of the day.  Having spent all afternoon overhearing
our comments as we worked, the archivist (Louisa Bann)
began to realize how much Dick knew about American medals
and brought over some queries she had been receiving, that
had stumped her.  He answered some immediately, so she
brought more.  One was an email from a man researching a
John Singer Sargent portrait of Civil War general Lucius
Fairchild.  In the painting, Fairchild is wearing 5 medals.
Sargent was an impressionist, so there is no detail but
the shape, ribbon color, and general attributes of the
bars, eagles, etc., on the medals, but these are all
accurate.   The emailer had identified three of the medals,
and sought help with Tiffany's for the other two.  Both
were unfamiliar to Dick and me, but the emailer's quest
to establish biographical detail (on Fairchild) through
material culture (a painting AND medals), had me salivating.
I wanted the details.  So I emailed Louisa Bann and begged
her to give me the guy's address.

His name is Barry Bauman, of River Forest, IL and he is
a painting conservator.  He told me that he has done so
well in that business, that he has been able to quit
charging for his work, but he will only accept jobs from
cash-strapped museums and historical societies who need
his services to preserve really important works.  Imagine
his delight when the Wisconsin Historical Society sent
him a $4 million Sargent to conserve!  Working on the
painting prompted him to want to get to know its subject,
General Lucius Fairchild, and tell his story.  He spent
months on the quest, and the attached link, recently made
public by Bauman, spells it out. It is a magnificent story
with many levels of interest: historical, artistic, and
numismatic. And in my opinion, Sargent was one of our top
portraitists and this website is a feast for the eyes.
I'm sure E-Sylum readers will be interested to learn how
Bauman tracked down the five medals.  The link is below:
Full Story "

[From Fairchild's diary: "December 9, 1887--"The portrait
is going on--probably three more sittings will finish it
--The badges are all on the manly breast."

Here's a quick link to the medal section: Full Story

Medal #1: The Grand Army of the Republic
Medal #2: The Unknown Medal
Medal #3: The Grand Army of the Republic
         Presentation Medal
Medal #4: The Military Order of the Loyal Legion
         of the United States
Medal #5: The Society of the Army of the Potomac

"As stated earlier, the search for the medals took
numerous paths. Contacts were made with historians,
medal experts, museum curators, descendants and Internet
forums. Four of the medals are now known. Medal #2 remains
unknown but there are inherent clues, based on Fairchild's
career, as to its possible origins. Gleaned information
from Sargent's artistic reinterpretation of the previous
medals lends benefits and difficulties."
Full Story

Can any of our readers help identify Medal #2?  -Editor]

  Wayne Homren, Editor

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