17th Army Corps Badge

[P.Brown]

After doing some reading I have found that the 17th Corps had an unofficial badge prior to adopting the arrow badge in late March 1865. I found that this badge was a five pointed star. Does anyone know of original, war-time examples of this unofficial badge? Any pictures would be greatly appreciated.

thanks,
Philip Brown

[Swag]

"I found that this badge was a five pointed star."

five pointed star for the 17th corps? The five point star was the badge for the 12th corps, then later the 20th corps when the 12th and 11th were merged in 64'. I never heard of the 17th corps having a five pointed star. I have found nothing yet pertaining to the 17th corps badge prior to March of 1865. In the General order issued in said month General F.P. Blake stated. "In it's swiftness, in its surety of striking where wanted and in its destructive powers when so intended, the arrow is probably as emblematical of the corps as any design that could be adopted."

[P.Brown]

In the book Civil War corps badges and other related awards, badges, medals of the period : including a section on post Civil War and Spanish-American War corps badges by Stanley Philips I read those very words in the orders from General F.P. Blake that selected the arrow as the 17th Corp badge. But, below these orders the author of the book made mention of an unofficial 17th corp badge that came before the arrow. This badge was a five pointed star. There was a photograph of an original directly beside this description. This puzzled me just like it puzzled you Mr. Lamb. There was also a section on the 17th Corps medal of honor (established in 1863) which was also a star. I am looking for other examples of the unofficial corps badge and trying to figure out its prevalence and time frame.

-Philip Brown