Mexican War of 1847 South Carolina Palmetto Medal with interesting history
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The South Carolina "Palmetto Medal" of Sergt. Zach Cantey
This medal shows polish wear to the surfaces and has been holed for wear.
It also has perhaps the most interesting history of any I've encountered!
Archive records and family legend have him dying in Mexico, returning to serve in the Civil War, dying again in the Civil War, and collecting a pension in 1889!  So far I know for certain that Zachariah Cantey was a Citadel Cadet and was wounded in action during the Mexican War while serving as the Color Bearer for the Palmetto Regiment having mustered in with Company C "The Dekalb Guards" out of Camden.
$1,200.00

From "The Alamo Battalion":
     The Citadel was still in its infancy and had not graduated its first class when the United States declared war on Mexico on May 13, 1846. Maj Richard W. Colcock, Superintendent of The Citadel, West Point class of 1826, volunteered the services of the new military college to prepare South Carolina's troops for war.
      South Carolina raised a volunteer regiment of infantry, known as the Palmetto Regiment.  The Palmetto Regiment was trained and prepared for the Mexican War by Citadel Cadets in 1846.  Several Citadel Cadets were granted furlough to join the Palmetto Regiment. The Citadel-trained regiment arrived in Texas in December 1846 and then proceeded south to fight the Mexican Army. The Palmetto Regiment's flag, introduced at The Citadel, was the first U.S. flag to fly over Mexico City on Sept 13, 1847.  Eleven cadets were casualties of war; six cadets died, Allen H. Little, Joseph H. Howell, Judah Alexander, McBelton O'Nealle, Pearcall N. Graham, and Eugene A. Wilder.  Five cadets were wounded: Zachariah Cantey (wounded at Puebla), John Campbell, Thomas J. Mackey, James A. Parnell and Robert Redford.


This letter was found at the estate sale of Sgt. Cantey's descendant with his medal.  It tells an interesting, and apparently completly erroneous story of how the medal was lost in battle during the Civil War and later returned to the family!  Curiouser and curioser but just family lore!!