American Historical Ephemera and Photography Featuring the Civil War and American Militaria Collection of Bruce B. Hermann

Approx. 1 x 1 1/16 in. engraved silver badge; T-bar attached to reverse (tarnishing). Engraved: "National / Union / League." Stamped with eagle grasping American flags. 

Union Leagues first appeared in 1863 with significant organizations in Philadelphia, New York, and Chicago. They combatted anti-war and anti-Black Copperheads in the North and engaged in fundraising for organizations such as the United States Sanitary Commission. After 1865, Union Leagues proliferated in the South as a Radical Republican organization advocating for the rights of freedmen.