 Wilder's Lightning Brigade. White metal. 31.0 mm. Choice Uncirculated. Prooflike. Unsigned. Unnamed. Bright silver gray in color. The surfaces are reflective and those on the reverse semi-prooflike. Rims a trifle ragged on the obverse, some spots there; reverse with a pronounced die cud and one small nick on the rim. Obverse shows cannon above crossed musket and saber in the center, acorn below; reverse is blank in the center, probably for engraving a name. John Thomas Wilder (1830-1917) joined the 17th Indiana as a captain and quickly rose to lieutenant-colonel. In February, 1863 he received permission to mount the regiment. A few months later, Wilder borrowed money from a bank and bought Spencer seven shot repeaters for his regiment (the men promised to reimburse him from their military pay).
At the start of the Chickamauga campaign together with the 72nd Indiana, 92nd, 98th, and 123rd Illinois, and Eli Lilly's battery (3 inch Rodmans) of the 18th Indiana Artillery, Wilder and his 17th Indiana formed what came to be called ''Wilder's Lightning Brigade''. Twice during Chickamauga Wilder's Brigade saved the Union from certain disaster. Wilder reigned his commission in 1864 and settled in Tennessee where he lived for the rest of his long life.
Pedigree unrecorded.
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