Union. Army of the Tennessee. Badge Presented to Lieutenant Colonel Oliver Dorrance Kinsman. Gold.
A striking gold badge measuring about 63 mm in length, 11 grams, featuring a gold eagle holding an arrow in its talons suspended by a chain from a pin-backed hanger engraved to O.D. KINSMAN LT COL A.A.G. The entire badge is backed by a tri-color red, white and blue silk ribbon roughly 75 mm in length. A blue and gold enamel shield over the eagle's breast reads 40 ROUNDS. An attractive badge awarded to a most distinguished and capable soldier. Born in Portland Maine, on February 18, 1835, to John D. and Angela Cutter Kinsman, Oliver later moved to Clinton, Iowa where he enlisted in the Union Army in mid-September 1861 as a sergeant and was mustered into K Company of the Iowa 11th Infantry the following month. He rose rapidly through the ranks during the War, becoming a second lieutenant in January 1862, first lieutenant and adjutant in 1863, captain and assistant adjutant general in 1864, and a major by brevet in March 1865. He had achieved the rank of lieutenant colonel at the time of his discharge in October 1866. After the War, he moved back East, marrying Emma Richardson in October 1871, in Washington, D.C. The couple had four daughters. It is believed he retired to a farm in Wheaton, Maryland sometime in the 1890s, where he lived until his death at age 92 on August 6, 1927. He is buried in Arlington National Cemetery in Virginia. The 11th Iowa Infantry was active in several major battles in Southern Tennessee and Northern Mississippi in 1862, including Shiloh and Corinth. Later in the War, it took part in the Meridian Raid, finally joining Sherman's army in the march to Atlanta. It ended the War in the Carolinas and was mustered out in July 1865.