BEAUTIFUL GOLD AND BLUE ENAMEL WARTIME CORPS BADGE OF LT. WILLIAM STORMENT 36th NEW YORK; LATER DIED OF WOUNDS RECEIVED IN ACTION AS A SERGEANT IN THE 22ND NY CAVALRY

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This beautiful badge is gold, circular, hollow backed, mounted with a T-bar pin and catch, inlaid in the front with a Greek Cross in blue enamel, the symbol of the 3rd Division, 6th Army Corps, surrounded by engraved floral swirls and curving leaves, with an outer border engraved in simple sans serif letters: “LIEUT. WM. STORMENT / 36 REGT N.Y.V.” He enlisted at age 24 at Buffalo 5/13/61 and mustered into U.S. service with the 36th NY Vol. Infantry for two years on 6/17/61 as 1st Sergeant of Co. A. He was promoted to 2nd Lieutenant 8/21/62 and transferred to Co. F and then back to Co. A on 9/1/62, essentially trading places with Lt. Robert Kirby. He was officially mustered in 10/30/62, with rank from 8/13/62, the date of discharge for the 2nd lieutenant of Co. F he replaced.

Storment’s name was actually Stormont: the spelling on the badge likely resulted from the engraver misreading the purchase order. He was likely used to it- records list him with at least three other spelling variations. In any case was a beautiful badge and like most, probably purchased by mail order and unlikely to be returned. The Greek Cross was officially adopted as the symbol of the 6th Corps March 21, 1863, along with other badges for the various corps of the Army of Potomac. Commercial firms were quick to offer soldiers alternatives to the simple die-cut cloth badges distributed by the army. In this case the corps badge in the appropriate division color doubled as an identification badge, something the army did not distribute at all. There is no maker’s mark, but style suggests it may have come from J.G. Packard & Co. of New York City, who advertised similar badges with choices of silver or gold, inlaid with the division color in enamel. They published flyers illustrating their wares, advertised in Harpers Weekly, and seem to have been out of business by mid-November 1863.

The 1860 census lists Stormont as age 23, living with his widowed mother and six siblings in Rochester, working as a carpenter, likely to support the family, along with brother Peter, a stone cutter. He went to Buffalo to enlist, signing up with a company that joined mostly down-state companies to form the 36th New York when it officially organized on May 25, 1861. Dyer gives its history as follows: Organized at New York City and mustered in June 17, 1861. Left State for Washington, D. C., July 12. Attached to Couch's Brigade, Division of the Potomac, to October. 1861. Couch's Brigade, Buell's Division, Army of the Potomac, to March, 1862. 1st Brigade, 1st Division, 4th Army Corps, Army of the Potomac, to September, 1862. 2nd Brigade, 3rd Division, 6th Army Corps, to June, 1863. Duty at Kalorma Heights and Camp Brightwood, Defences of Washington, D. C., till March, 1862. March to Prospect Hill, Va., March 11-15. Moved to the Peninsula, Va., March 28. Siege of Yorktown April 5-May 4. Battle of Williamsburg May 5. Reconnoissance to Bottom's Bridge May 20-23, and to White Oak Swamp May 25-28. Battle of Fair Oaks or Seven Pines May 31-June 1. Seven days before Richmond June 25-July 1. Battles of Oak Grove, near Seven Pines, June 25; Savage Station June 29; White Oak Swamp June 30; Malvern Hill July 1. At Harrison's Landing till August 16. Movement to Fortress Monroe, thence to Centreville August 16-29. Maryland Campaign September 6-22. Battle of Antietam September 16-17. Duty in Maryland till October 29. Movement to Falmouth, Va., October 29-November 19. Battle of Fredericksburg, Va., December 12-15. "Mud March" January 20-24, 1863. At Falmouth till April 27. Chancellorsville Campaign April 27-May 6. Operations about Franklin's Crossing April 29-May 2. Marye’s Heights, Fredericksburg, May 3.  Salem Heights May 3-4. Banks' Ford May 4. Deep Run Ravine June 5-13. Ordered home for muster out. Three years men transferred to 65th Regiment, New York Infantry. Duty in New York during draft riots July 13-15. Mustered out July 15, 1863, expiration of term.

The regiment lost 37 officers and men killed in action or mortally wounded, with another 137 wounded, who recovered to some degree, with most of the losses sustained at Fair Oaks and  Malvern Hill in 1862 and at Maryes Heights and Salem Church in the Chancellorsville campaign in May 1863.

Stormont enlisted again six months later, enrolling at Rochester on 1/21/64 and mustering into Co. I of the 22nd NY Cavalry as a private, but being promoted soon after to sergeant and transferred to Co. M, perhaps in expectation of a commission. The regiment left the state March 8 and was attached to the 9th Corps until April when it joined the Cavalry Corps of the Army of the Potomac. Stormont was mortally wounded at a place and date not stated in the NY Adjutant General’s report, and died of lockjaw (tetanus) at a hospital in NY City on June 28 or June 29. Phisterer lists 18 engagements for the regiment between May 5 and Stormont’s date of death, with 7 men who died of wounds received in that period, making it likely he was wounded at Wilderness, the fighting around Cold Harbor, or on the raid against the Southside and Danville Railroad. He was interred back in Rochester, in a family plot, with his name correctly spelled on his tombstone. Various record, all thrown off by errors of transcription, carry him as Stormant, Stermont, Storment, and even Stormout, to some degree fulfilling Sherman’s observation that military fame consists of being killed on the field of battle and having your name misspelled in the newspapers.

This is a beautiful badge worn by a soldier who left a family in need to preserve the Union and made the ultimate sacrifice.  [sr] [ph:L/m]

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