United States. A Ladies of the Grand Army of the Republic Badge, Past President Sara A. Haile, c.1915

In Gold with white and blue enamels, weighing 9.3 grams inclusive of its hanger, engraved "Presented to SARA A HAILE P.P. By Anna Ella Carroll Circle No. 1. LADIES OF THE G.A.R. Jan 5, 1915" on the reverse, measuring 29 mm (w) x 27.7 mm (h), suspended from a 37.5 mm (w) x 18 mm (h) ornately engraved hanger in Gold with red, white and blue enamels with pinback, intact enamels, extremely fine. In its hardshelled case of issue, maker marked "PIUS GFELL / SUCCESSOR TO T. MUSGRAVE & CO. / SAN FRANCISCO" on the inside lid, lightly soiled medal bed, light wear on the exterior, wear evident in the fabric overlying the hinged area, case very fine.

Footnote: The Ladies of the Grand Army of the Republic, Inc. is Congressionally Chartered, and is the oldest Women’s hereditary organization in the United States. The original objectives of the organization included promotion of patriotism and loyalty to the Union, participation in community service, especially for the aid of Veterans and their dependents. Today’s objectives are still the same, with great emphasis on education and preservation of Civil War history. This is accomplished through local school and community programs, monument and battlefield preservation, fundraising for memorial and dedication ceremonies, and involvement in local activities including patriotic holiday observances and parades. The goal of the Ladies of the Grand Army of the Republic is to teach patriotism and preserve the history of their ancestry. Anna Ella Carroll was an American woman politician, pamphleteer and lobbyist, born on August 29, 1815 in Pocomoke City, Worcester County, Maryland. She was born in to a very wealthy and prominent family in her state and city: her great grandfather was one of the signers of the Declaration of Independence and the last surviving signers and a delegate to the Second Continental Congress and later in the new Congress of the United States, her father was the Governor of Maryland from 1830-1831, and her mother was the daughter of a Baltimore physician. She was also the eldest of eight children. She played a significant role as an adviser to the Lincoln presidential cabinet during the American Civil War (1861-1865). She also wrote many pamphlets criticizing slavery. Often called an unofficial member of President Abraham Lincoln's cabinet, she was a Unionist author and newspaper reporter who had traveled extensively throughout the South and Midwest before the Civil War. Among her most popular books were "The War Powers Of The General Government" (1861) and "The Great American Battle" (1856). Just before the war, she journeyed through the Midwest and noted the importance of the rivers and the railroads as a strategic link to the resources of the region. In 1861, her contacts at the War Department encouraged her to tour the upper Mississippi River valley and report on conditions there. While in St. Louis, she met with Mississippi River pilots who described the river and its major tributaries. With this information, Carroll developed outlines for a Federal campaign into the South on the Tennessee river and sent a detailed plan to the War Department. In 1862-63, General Ulysses S. Grant took his army up the Tennessee River and captured several key forts and transportation junctions; among them was the fortified town of Vicksburg. The seizure of the railroads and water-transportation facilities of the Tennessee Valley was one of the keys to the eventual success of the United States. Carroll was never officially recognized for her contributions to military strategy during the war, but she received a small pension many years later. She was a member of the Ladies of the Grand Army of the Republic with her Number 1 designation, this badge awarded in her honor to the recipient, Sara A. Haile. She died on February 19, 1894 in Washington, District of Columbia, at the age of 78 and is buried at Old Trinity Church Cemetery in Church Creek, Dorchester County, Maryland.