27. A Confederate soldier wore no medals on his uniform
The soldiers of the Union Army were eligible for medals, including the Purple Heart and the Medal of Honor, which was first awarded during the Civil War. Their counterparts serving the South were not. Although medals were authorized for the officers and men of the Confederate Army none could be obtained, and Robert E. Lee stated that the highest honor to be accorded the men under his command was to be “mentioned in dispatches”. Over fifteen hundred men of the Union army and navy were awarded the Medal of Honor for actions during the Civil War, but not one such award was issued for the men serving the Confederacy, though many men entered Southern legend through their efforts being recorded in the reports of their senior officers.