The Edward Strong Moseley Gold and Enamel Order of the Cincinnati, probably Boston, circa 1867

cast, chased and enamelled in the form of a spread-winged eagle; the obverse with Cincinnatus receiving a sword from two senators on blue ground within the enamelled inscription OMNIA RELINQT. SERVARE REMPUB., the reverse with Cincinnatus with plow and sun in background, within painted enamelled inscription VIRT. PRAEM. SOCI. CIN. RUM. INST. 1783, the eagle head encicrled by green enamelled wreath with matching loop above engraved with initials ESM, the talons resting on sprays of green enameled leaves, with fluted oval suspension loop

Minor Myers, Jr. The Insignia of The Society of the Cincinnati, Washington, D.C., 1998, no. 24, "The Moseley Eagle," p. 65 (from an old photograph in Hall notebook)

William Carvel Hall, Manuscript notebook of the Insignia of the Order of the Cincinnati, circa 1900 (Anderson House Collection, Washington)

sky chipped above Cincinnatus holding plow, also loss to green enamel grass, feathers on neck and tail feathers rubbed, some minor losses to green enamel on leaves
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Edward Strong Moseley (1813-1900) was admitted to the Massachusetts branch of the Society of the Cincinnati in 1867.  He joined under the rule of 1854, based on the military career of his grandfather Ebenezer Moseley, though Ebenezer himself had not joined the Society. 

This eagle, derived from the Pierre L'Enfant design, appears to be the only known example of this variety.  William Carvel Hall's notebook at Anderson House, from shortly after 1900, states that this eagle was made in Boston about 1865 specifically for Moseley.  Minor Myers, Jr., points out that the lettering on the obverse medallion is so close to that on the L'Enfant originals that he speculates it could be a re-use from an original example.

Ebenezer Moseley (1740/41-1825) was born in Connecticut and received his BA from Yale in 1763; four years later the was ordained as a missionary to the Indians of New York Province.  In the words of his grandson's Memorium from the Society, Ebenzer had "so much of the Christian warrior in him" that on the outbreak of hostilities with the British in 1775 he served as a lieutenant in the Connecticut Company of Minutemen in the Lexington alarm (Francis Heitman, Officers of the Continental Army, Washington, 1914, p. 404); another source credits him with ten days service in the call, and the Memorium praises his "good service" at Bunker Hill.  From May 1st to December 7th, 1775, he was a Captain in the 3rd Connecticut (Record of Service of Connecticut Men in the War of Revolution, Hartford 1889, p. 26).  In 1776 he served with the Connecticut Militia, and in 1777 he served as a Captain in General Sullivan's Rhode Island campaign.  After the Revolution Ebenezer, who was married to the sister of Caleb Strong, governor of Massachusetts, served for many years as a Representative in the Connecticut legislature.

His grandson Edward Strong Moseley attended Dummer and Andover academies before entering Yale in 1829.  He left after three years to join an East Indian merchant house, establishing himself in Newburyport. Mass.  He served in a number of civic positions, was one of the key founders of the Public library, and purchased the Prince House, where Washington and Lafayette had been entertained, to ensure its preservation.

On Moseley's death in 1900, an In Memorium compilation included two testimonials from the Society of the Cincinnati.  The Hon. T.K. Lothrop, Vice-President of the Massachusetts branch, recalled:
From the day of his admission to this Society to the day of his death he manifested always the greatest interest in our proceedings.  He never missed a meeting unless in case of absolute necessity, and was always genial, gay, kind and friendly...of our late associate it is emphatically true that he exhibited in a high degree toward his fellow members that "cordial affection and spirit of brotherly kindness" which are enumerated in the institution among the purposed for the cultivation and maintenance of which the Society of the Cincinnati was created.

The Hon. Winslow Warren, President, said Moseley seemed to belong to that old regime which gave character and honor to the Society, and through whom the best traditions of the institution have been kept up.

A reprint of Edward Strong Moseley: In Memoriam, 1813-1900, accompanies this lot.