United States. An Order of the Loyal Legion, Captain Seeley

A Military Order of the Loyal Legion of the United States to Captain Francis Webb Seeley: Three-piece construction, Gold with red, white and blue enamels, weighing 11.8 grams inclusive of its ribbon and brooch, number engraved "5264" on the obverse and "7878" on the reverse of the loop suspension, 32.2 mm x 32.5 mm, original ribbon with brooch pinback, intact enamels, extremely fine.

 

Footnote: Francis Webb Seeley was born on April 12, 1837 in Ashtabula, Ashtabula County, Ohio, the eldest son of I.O. Seeley. He was sixteen years old when he moved with his parents to Wabasha, Minnesota. His educational privileges had been limited, but after joining the Regular Army, he prepared himself by assiduous study for the life of a useful soldier and citizen. He enlisted in February 1855, in Sherman's Battery, Battery E, 3rd Artillery and was stationed at Fort Snelling in Saint Paul, Minnesota. Seeley served until the beginning of the American Civil War as a non-commissioned officer on the western frontier. He was breveted a Second Lieutenant by President Buchanan, on September 19, 1860 and was made a Second Lieutenant in the 4th Artillery, on February 4, 1861. Three months later, on May 4, 1861, he was promoted to First Lieutenant and served as Adjutant-General of the Department of Florida, where he was then stationed. On January 19, 1862, he was given his own battery: Seeley's Battery, Company K, 4th Artillery, Army of the Potomac. At the Battle of Chancellorsville (April 30 to May 6, 1863), his battery fired the last Union shot, and he retired, under orders, with heavy loss in both men and horse: "At the conclusion of the Battle of Chancellorsville, Captain Seeley's battery, which was the last battery that fired a shot in that battle, had one officer and forty enlisted men killed and wounded, and in the neighborhood of sixty horses killed or disabled; but being a soldier of great pride and ambition, and not wishing to leave any of his material in the hands of the enemy, he withdrew so entirely at his leisure that he carried off all his wounded men and even the accoutrements from his dead and disabled horses!". He was promoted to Brevet Captain on May 30, 1863. Seeley was with the 3rd Corps of the Army of the Potomac, which had 38 infantry regiments and five artillery batteries, organized into two divisions of three brigades each and an artillery brigade at the Battle of Gettysburg (July 1 to 3, 1863), where he commanded Battery K, 4th United States Regular Artillery. He was wounded twice on July 2nd, suffering severe gun shot wounds to his hand and thigh. In his official report of the Battle of Gettysburg, Major-General A. A. Humphreys said: "Seeley's battery, 'K, 4th U. S. Art.' was placed at my disposal. The firing of Seeley's battery was splendid, and excited my admiration, as well as that of every officer who beheld it. His loss in men and horses was heavy, including himself, twice severely wounded." Nine days after suffering his wounds, he was named Captain of the 4th Artillery, on July 11th. He was later promoted to Major, for "gallant conduct in the battles of Chancellorsville and Gettysburg.", the promotion confirmed by the Senate. While recuperating from his wounds, he married Emily Cornelia Loveland, on August 5, 1863 in Ashtabula, Ohio, the couple later having one child, a daughter, Frances Emily Seeley (born 1866). Major Seeley, now disabled from active service, was ultimately forced by the effects of his injuries, to resign his commission, which he did, on August 31, 1864. Besides the battles of Chancellorsville and Gettysburg, he participated in the following engagements: Battle of Santa Rosa Islands, Florida; the bombardment of Forts McRae and Barrancas, Florida; the siege of Yorktown; the battles of Fair Oaks, Malvern Hill, Fredericksburg, White Oak Swamp and others. He is the only officer, below the grade of field officer, mentioned by Horace Greeley in his "The American Conflict: A History of the Great Rebellion in the United States of America 1860-1864". After leaving the Army, he returned to Wabasha County, Minnesota and engaged in farming for three years, but was forced to give it up, due to physical disability, the result of his wounds incurred at Gettysburg. He was elected to the Minnesota Legislature in 1868 and was appointed by President Grant, as Postmaster of the Lake City, Minnesota Post Office, in March 1873. He was one of the original members of the Odd-Fellows Lodge and in theological matters, he was considered "very liberal". Francis Webb Seeley died on December 29, 1910 in Los Angeles, Los Angeles County, California, at the age of 73 and is buried in Los Angeles National Cemetery, Plot 19, 8/D.