8TH REGIMENT U.S. COLORED TROOPS MEDAL, PART 2

Figure 4: The second U.S.C.T. 8th Regiment Medal that surfaced in 2023 is made of what appears to be brass. This new example shows the type of corrosion characteristic of medals that may have been dug up from battle sites.

A Second 8th Regiment Medal Surfaces
A second example of the 8th Regiment medal surfaced on eBay in December 2023 (Figure 4), providing an opportunity to compare the two examples of the medal. To minimize confusion throughout the following discussion, the medal that is the subject of this article will be designated "Medal 1" and the new example, "Medal 2." The new example is evidence that Lovett Jr. made the medals in at least two materials: white metal (Medal 1) and what appears to be brass (Medal 2). Finding this new variation adds to my hope that a greater number and/or more varieties of these medals are yet to be discovered.

Robert Lovett Jr.'s design for this medal uses a clever and efficient way to make a single reverse die that could service all the different companies in the regiment. To this purpose, he left a blank space after the Company abbreviation ("CO"), making it possible to hand-stamp each successive company's letter designation (in whatever quantity was required). This design feature is evident in these two medals (Figure 5), where the letter "B" appears after "CO" on Medal 1 (a.), but the corrosion on Medal 2 makes it uncertain which, if any, company designation may have been applied (b.).

Figure 5: a. Detail of the reverse of the first 8th Regiment Medal found shows the letter "B" appearing after the Company abbreviation (enlarged). b. The Company letter is not evident on the reverse of the brass version of the 8th Regiment medal (enlarged).

Figure 6: Medal 2 (the brass version of the 8th Regiment med al) reveals that much of the original detail remains intact (enlarged view).

Figure 7: Detail of the obverse of Medal 1 (the first 8th Regiment Medal found), which is marred by scratches and with a total loss of detail in the main design (enlarged view).

The condition of the medals offers possible clues to their respective history. In Medal 2 (Figure 6), the effects of exposure to the elements has resulted in significant corrosion, which is likely a result of years of being buried in the ground. Nevertheless, much of its original detail remains visible, particularly in the clothing and other features of the seated goddess and her surroundings. In contrast, the surface of Medal 1 (Figure 7), heavily defaced by scratches, shows no signs of having been unearthed. It does show, however, a total loss of detail in the main design, which appears flat and featureless. Such loss of detail occurs naturally from abrasion when any coin or medal is worn or handled for a long period of time. These observations suggest that the owner of Medal 1 may have survived the war and carried the medal for years afterward.

From Camp William Penn to the Grave
Tragically, the owner of Medal 2 may not have been so lucky. Historical records indicate that during the Civil War, approximately one in five Black soldiers died—a mortality rate 35% higher than that of their White counterparts. Losses in the 8th Regiment were even more severe. By the war's end, it had the third-highest number of casualties among the 175 United States Colored Troops (U.S.C.T.) regiments.

These heavy losses were largely the result of a single engagement. On February 20, 1864, shortly after departing Camp William Penn, the 8th Regiment experienced its first combat in the Battle of Olustee in north-central Florida. Although the soldiers fought with determination, the regiment's limited combat experience and ineffective leadership contributed to exceptionally high casualties—even by Civil War standards.

The discovery of a second 8th Regiment U.S.C.T. medal underscores the uncertainty surrounding how many such artifacts may still lie lost on Civil War battlefields. At the same time, ongoing research by historian Dr. Barbara Gannon of the University of Central Florida is shedding new light on the fate of the soldiers who once carried them.

Dr. Gannon and her students have spent years investigating the events surrounding the Battle of Olustee and its aftermath. Their findings suggest that, in violation of congressional mandates, the remains of nearly two hundred Union soldiers who died in the battle remain buried in two unmarked mass graves—one near the battlefield and another close to a field hospital used after the Union retreat. Evidence also indicates that local residents who controlled the site after the Union defeat obstructed federal efforts to recover and properly inter the dead. Moreover, historical records reveal multiple instances in which the federal government itself failed to meet its obligations to fallen soldiers and their families.

Efforts to deny proper burial to the Union dead began soon after the war. The Ku Klux Klan used intimidation to prevent government agents from relocating the remains to a national cemetery. In subsequent decades, the United Daughters of the Confederacy, which managed the battlefield into the twentieth century, exercised their considerable political influence to block further attempts at reinterment.

Union forces at Olustee included three Black regiments—the 54th Massachusetts, the 35th U.S.C.T., and the 8th U.S.C.T.—and five White regiments: the 7th Connecticut, 7th New Hampshire, and the 47th, 48th, and 115th New York. Driven by racial hostility and hostility toward interracial military cooperation, the Ku Klux Klan and the United Daughters of the Confederacy contributed to the erasure of these soldiers' memory. This erasure has persisted for more than a century.

Dr. Gannon's research is now helping to restore that lost history. By drawing renewed attention to the Union dead at Olustee, her work calls for long-overdue recognition. The recently discovered medals hold significance not only for the 8th Regiment U.S.C.T., but also as tangible links to the broader community of soldiers who fought and died there.

For these men, honor has long been denied. Greater awareness offers the possibility that their service and sacrifice will finally be acknowledged—and remembered.

Almost three years ago, in The E-Sylum (Volume 26, Number 8, February 19, 2023), I published an article titled "Query: 1863 U.S. Colored Troops Medal." In it, I asked readers for help uncovering the story behind a previously undocumented Civil War medal I had discovered.

Since then, I have learned very little more about the medal itself. What has changed, however—and what compels me to write this follow-up—is what I have discovered about the fate of the men of the 8th Regiment for whom this medal was created.

For nearly a decade, Dr. Barbara A. Gannon and her students at the University of Central Florida have been researching the Battle of Olustee, fought in Florida on February 20, 1864. It was here that the 8th Regiment, United States Colored Troops, experienced its baptism by fire. They fought alongside two other Black regiments—the 35th USCT and the 54th Massachusetts—as well as several white regiments, including the 7th Connecticut, 7th New Hampshire, and the 47th, 48th, and 115th New York.

It is not only the battle itself, but its aftermath, that gives this story its urgency. Evidence suggests that Union soldiers who died at Olustee were deliberately denied the dignity afforded to the fallen. Their bodies were mishandled, and their memory—particularly that of Black soldiers—was systematically obscured.

Today, approximately 200 Union soldiers—both Black and white—lie in a mass grave adjacent to the Olustee battlefield. For all intents and purposes, their sacrifices and individual identities have been erased from the historical record.

I now turn again to my fellow numismatists—not simply for information, but for action. I believe that this medal, though still not fully understood, can serve as a powerful tool to restore attention to a forgotten tragedy. Through it, we have an opportunity to demonstrate how numismatics can contribute meaningfully to the recovery and reinterpretation of history.