Collection Highlights
The Course of Empire: Destruction
Date:
1836
Object Number:
1858.4
Medium:
Oil on canvas (relined)
SUPPORT THE NEW-YORK HISTORICAL SOCIETY
Help us present groundbreaking exhibitions and develop educational programs about our nation's history for more than 200,000 schoolchildren annually.
Museum Collections
Luce Center
Horatio Gates Military Medal
Object Number:
1889.6
Date:
1787
Medium:
Gold
Dimensions:
diameter: 2 3/16 x 1 3/4 in. ( 5.6 x 4.4 cm )
Marks:
Inscription: obverse, above exergual line, at right: "N.GATTEAUX"
Inscription: reverse, below exergual line, at left: "GATTEAUX F."
Description:
Gold die-struck medal presented to General Horatio Gates by Congress; obverse: bust of General Gates, in uniform, facing left; legend: "HORATIO GATES DUCI STRENUO"; inscription in exergue: "COMITIA AMERICANA"; reverse: Burgoyne surrendering his sword to Gates, with vanquished troops of Great Britain in left background, and victorious American army in right background; legend above: "SALUS REGIONUM SEPTENTRIONAL."; inscription in exergue: "HOSTE AD SARATOGAM / IN DEDITION ACCEPTO/ DIE XVII OCT MDCCLXXVII"; with hanging bracket attached at top.
Gallery Label:
This is the original gold medal awarded by Congress to General Horatio Gates (1728-1806) in 1777 for his defeat of General John Burgoyne at Saratoga. The medal was engraved by Nicholas Marie Gatteaux and executed in Paris in 1787.
Bibliography:
John W. Adams and Anne E. Bentley, "Comitia Americana and Related Medals (2007), pp. 55-58.
Credit Line:
Gift of Frederick Gallatin
Provenance:
Presented to Horatio Gates (1727-1806) in 1787; bequeathed to Mrs. Horatio Gates (Mary Vallance, 1740-1810) in 1806; bequeathed by Mrs. Gates to Horatio Gates Stevens (1778-1873) in 1810; to his grandson Frederic Gallatin (1841-1927), who presented it to the New-York Historical Society in 1889.
Due to ongoing research, information about this object is subject to change.
