5th Ohio Corps Badge

The corps badge worn by members of the Army of the Potomac's 12th Corps was one of the most easily recognizable employed by troops during the Civil War. A simple five-point star, the badge was most commonly made of cloth, colored red for the Corps' first division and white for its second. More expensive corps badges were made of metal, and ran the gamut from stamped brass to solid silver and gold. Others were simply manufactured of a metal alloy and plated with silver or gold. These metal badges were usually the work of talented jewelers and were almost always finely engraved with the soldiers name, unit, and battle honors. The exquisite badges were normally worn on the soldiers uniform coat, fastened securely by a T-bar pin.

Because they were fairly expensive to have made, most silver or gold corps badges were purchased and worn by officers, especially those that were quite elaborate in design. However, there are many exceptions to this rule, photographic evidence showing that many enlisted men wore them too. This is especially evident in photographs made of soldiers serving in the 12th Army Corps, which when merged with the 1th in April 1864, became the 20th Corps.

Many men of the hardfighting 5th Ohio Volunteer Infantry, wore a gold 12th/20th Corps badge of interesting design. Like all standard 12th/20th Corps badges it was a five- point star, but what made it different than most was that the numeral "5" was cut out of the solid center, making for a very distinctive badge. The men of the Fifth Ohio were proud of their military record, which saw them fight with honor at Port Republic, Cedar Mountain, Antietam, Gettysburg, and then in the western theater beginning in September, 1863.

Lookout Mountain, Resaca, New Hope Church and Kennesaw Mountain, where added to the Fifth's roster of battles in the year ahead. When mustered out in July 1865 the unit bore a reputation as one of the finest in the Union Army.

Colonel John Patrick commanded the 5th Ohio Infantry in some of the Civil War's bloodiest battles, including Cedar Mountain, Antietam and Gettysburg. A Scotsman, born in Edinburgh on March 11, 1820, Patrick came to the United States in 1848 and settled in Cincinnati, Ohio. Patrick began his wartime service with the 5th Ohio as lieutenant colonel and by September 1862 had risen to colonel. The regiment went west in September 1863, and with Patrick at its head fought in the battle of Lookout Mountain and in the early stages of the Atlanta campaign. At the Battle of Dallas, GA on May 25, 1864, Col. Patrick was killed when a canister ball pierced his abdomen.

In the above portrait, Col. Patrick wears an extremely fine gold medal presented to him at a banquet held in his honor in Cincinnati, Ohio. Patrick's gold medal was inscribed with these battle honors: Winchester, Port Republic, Cedar Mountain, Antietam, Dumfries, Chancellorsville, Gettysburg, Lookout Mountain.