Badge, United Daughters of the Confederacy Southern Cross of Honor
Object number2008.268.178
Dateca 1880
Mediummetal
Dimensions2 x 1 1/4 in. (5.1 x 3.2 cm)
Credit LineOld State House Museum Collection
DescriptionUnited Daughters of the Confederacy Southern Cross of Honor engraved with A.B. Isreal. Abner B. Israel enlisted in the Confederate Army on June 9, 1861 in Fort Smith, Arkansas. He served in the 1st Arkansas Mounted Rifles. He was captured in Ripley Co., Missouri on Christmas Day, 1863. As a POW, he was sent from prison at Fort Delaware to Morris Island and became a member of what was known as the Immortal 600.
The Immortal 600 were a group of Confederate officers who were sent to Morris Island as retaliation for the Southern POW camp, Andersonville. There the officers were put on a starvation diet and were given no shelter. They were placed in front of Union artillery by Major General John G. Foster, who believed that the Confederates would stop firing if they knew their own people were in harm's way. By the end of the war, only 290 of those prisoners survived.
After the war, Israel lived in Walnut Ridge, Arkansas where he served as a postmaster.
Status
Not on view
March 22, 1863
ca 1865-1875
May 1, 1865