Sampson Medal

{{short description|Medal Commemorating Naval Engagements in the West Indies}} {{Infobox military award |name=Sampson Medal |image=Sampsonmedal.gif |image_size=115px |caption='''Obverse''' |presenter=Department of the Navy |type= Military medal<br>Campaign medal |eligibility=Personnel who were assigned in the fleet of Rear Admiral William T. Sampson during the Spanish–American War |awarded_for=Combat operations in the waters of the West Indies and Cuba. |status=Obsolete |established=1901 |firstawarded=1901<br/>Retroactive to 1898 |lastawarded= |total_awarded= |total_awarded_posthumously= |total_recipients= |individual= |precedence_label=Order of Wear (1972) |higher=Dewey Medal<ref name=title32chapVI733.16>{{cite book|title=The Code of Federal Regulations of the United States of America|year=1972|publisher=Government Printing Office|location=Washington|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=6f06AAAAIAAJ&q=%22Dewey+Medal%22&pg=PA640|page=640}}</ref> |same= |lower=Peary Polar Expedition Medal<ref name=title32chapVI733.16/> |image2=Sampson Medal ribbon.JPG |image2_size=100px |caption2=Sampson Medal ribbon }}

thumb|Reverse side of Sampson Medal<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.history.navy.mil/photos/sh-usn/usnsh-xz/yale.htm |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20000925224919/http://www.history.navy.mil/photos/sh-usn/usnsh-xz/yale.htm |url-status=dead |archive-date=September 25, 2000 |title=USN Ships-USS Yale (1898), later Harrisburg (ID # 1663) |publisher=History.navy.mil |access-date=September 28, 2013}}</ref> The '''Sampson Medal''' was a U.S. Navy campaign medal. The medal was authorized by an Act of Congress in 1901. The medal was awarded to those personnel who served on ships in the fleet of Rear Admiral William T. Sampson during combat operations in the waters of the West Indies and Cuba. The Sampson Medal was also known as the '''West Indies Naval Campaign Medal''',<ref>{{cite news|url=http://www.navy.mil/ah_online/archpdf/ah194707.pdf|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140714174331/http://www.navy.mil/ah_online/archpdf/ah194707.pdf|url-status=dead|archive-date=July 14, 2014|title=Decorations, Medals and Ribbons|work=All Hands|date=July 1947|access-date=September 26, 2013|page=30}}</ref> not to be confused with the West Indies Campaign Medal which was a separate award. A similar commemorative decoration was the Dewey Medal, considered senior to the Sampson Medal.<ref name=title32chapVI733.16 />

==Creation== The Sampson Medal was first authorized by a Joint resolution of the United States Congress on March 3, 1901. The resolution authorized the Secretary of the Navy to have produced bronze medals to commemorate naval engagements in the West Indies and on the shores of Cuba during the Spanish–American War. The medal was to be presented to the officers and men of the United States Navy and Marine Corps who participated in engagements and battles that were deemed to be of sufficient importance to merit their commemoration.<ref name=wsresolution>{{cite wikisource |title=[No. 18.] Joint Resolution Authorizing the Secretary of the Navy to cause bronze medals to be struck and distributed to certain officers and men who participated in the war with Spain, and for other purposes. |wslink=United States Statutes at Large/Volume 31/56th Congress/2nd Session/Resolution 18 |author=United States Congress |year=1901 |publisher=Government Printing Office |location=Washington, DC |page=1465 |scan=United States Statutes at Large Volume 31.djvu/1517}}</ref><ref>{{cite book|last=Bureau of Naval Personnel|title=Navy and Marine Corps Awards Manual (NavPers 15,790, Rev 1953)|year=1953|publisher=Department of the Navy|location=Washington, D.C.|page=37|url=https://awards.navy.mil/awards/webdoc01.nsf/330F53CC20B8E69B8525736900486560/$File/Intro.pdf|access-date=2013-09-28|archive-date=2012-02-16|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120216124128/https://awards.navy.mil/awards/webdoc01.nsf/330F53CC20B8E69B8525736900486560/%24File/Intro.pdf|url-status=dead}}</ref>

The resolution also stipulated that those who might be eligible for recognition for participation in more than one engagement would not receive a second medal, but would receive a "bronze bar appropriately inscribed, to be attached to the ribbon by which the medal is suspended."<ref name=wsresolution/>

==Appearance== The obverse of the medal was designed by Charles E. Barber. It depicts a bust of Admiral Sampson. The reverse was designed by George T. Morgan. It depicts a Navy officer, Sailor, and Marine standing upon a block identifying the action for which the medal was awarded. Suspending the ribbon of the medal is a brooch pin with the name of the recipient's ship. The recipient's name is engraved on the lower rim of the medal, this being one of only two medals officially issued named to a recipient.<ref name=NHHC>{{cite web|title=Sampson Medal|url=https://www.history.navy.mil/browse-by-topic/heritage/awards/service-campaign/sampson-medal.html|website=Service Medals & Campaign Credits|publisher=U.S. Navy, Naval History and Heritage Command|access-date=11 July 2017}}</ref>

Campaign clasps or engagement bars were authorized for wear on the ribbon, showing various battles and the ship name which had participated. The medal was issued for 47 engagements or skirmishes and some were awarded with several engagement bars.<ref name=NHHC /> When worn as a ribbon on a military uniform, there were no devices authorized.

==References== {{reflist}}

Category:1901 establishments in the United States Category:Awards established in 1901 Category:Military awards and decorations of the Spanish–American War Category:United States campaign medals Category:Works by Charles E. Barber Category:Works by George T. Morgan Category:Spanish West Indies Category:Military history of the Caribbean