Originally Posted by shrapnel
Originally Posted by MikeL2
Originally Posted by shrapnel
The reason I asked this is I was researching the Custer battle and found this medal of honor and if you notice it is marked "The Congress to" which would lead me to consider it to be "Congressional"...


[Linked Image from i.imgur.com]
The inscription on the medal is not the name of the medal.

The inscription of "The Congress To" is the point is am curious about. I was always under the opinion that it is "The Medal Of Honor" as that seems to be the rule. However, Mechlin did receive the Medal of Honor along with several others for their acts of bravery as they transferred water from the Little Bighorn river to the parched troops on Reno/Benteen hill under severe enemy fire from the Indians.


So no one sees the reference to "Congress" on that medal as an association with Congressional?

I'm not saying it is so, it just appears to have some validity to the title "Congressional Medal Of Honor"

Your picture is of the inscription to the recipient on the back side of the actual medal. I don't understand why there is any confusion over the official name of the medal - this particular example is the Army version of The Medal Of Honor.

The inscription says "From The Congress To" on the reverse of the bar - your picture cuts off the "from". It says that because that is the original intent of the medal - bestowed BY the President FROM the Congress. Correction - the Medal was redesigned several times - earlier Civil War era version did say "from the congress to", some later versions just said "the congress to" implying the "from".

Last edited by MikeL2; 12/07/22.