1911 *SIGNED* Civil War Medal of Honor Winner [NOT] Asa Bird Gardiner

Asa Bird Gardiner (September 30, 1839 – May 24, 1919) was a controversial American soldier, attorney, and district attorney for New York County (a.k.a. the Borough of Manhattan) from 1898 to 1900.

He received the Medal of Honor for his service in the American Civil War in 1872 but it was rescinded in 1917 when supporting documentation was not found.

Asa B. Gardiner (1839-1919), was a controversial American soldier, attorney, and district attorney for New York County (now the Borough of Manhattan) from 1898 to 1900. Shortly after the outbreak of the American Civil War, Gardiner was commissioned as a first lieutenant in the 31st New York Infantry Regiment. He was mustered in and out of service for the next four years and then brevetted to the rank of captain on March 13, 1865, for "gallant and meritorious service during the war". Gardiner served at West Point as Professor of Law from July 20, 1874 to August 28, 1878.

He was active in several military and hereditary societies including the Society of the Cincinnati, the Grand Army of the Republic, and the Sons of the Revolution. While still at West Point, Gardiner was chosen by President Ulysses S. Grant to be the presiding judge advocate general at the Whiskey Ring court-martial of Brevet Brigadier General Orville E. Babcock, Grant's personal secretary. The civilian grand jury that had already convened refused to turn over its evidence, however, and the court-martial adjourned; Babcock was later acquitted. Gardiner represented many other high-profile, controversial cases.  As a Judge Advocate in the United States Army, he prosecuted the case of Johnson Chesnut Whittaker, a black cadet at West Point.

He was elected New York County District Attorney in 1897, but was put on trial for corruption, and despite acquittal, was removed from office by Theodore Roosevelt in 1900.

Johnson Chesnut Whittaker (1858–1931) was one of the first black men to win an appointment to the United States Military Academy at West Point. When at the academy, he was brutally assaulted and then expelled after being falsely accused and convicted of faking the incident. Over sixty years after his death, his name was formally cleared when he was posthumously commissioned by President Bill Clinton.


The Society of the Cincinnati is a patriotic-hereditary society with branches in the United States and France, founded in 1783, to preserve the ideals and fellowship of officers of the Continental Army who served in the Revolutionary War. Now in its third century, the Society promotes public interest in the American Revolution through its library and museum collections, exhibitions, programs, publications, and other activities. It is the oldest hereditary society in North America.



See photos for condition details.