1782
Washington Creates The Purple Heart
On this day in 1782, in Newburgh, New York,
General George Washington, the commander in chief of the Continental Army,
creates the “Badge for Military Merit,” a decoration consisting of a purple,
heart-shaped piece of silk, edged with a narrow binding of silver, with the
word Merit stitched across the face in silver. The badge was to be
presented to soldiers for “any singularly meritorious action” and permitted its
wearer to pass guards and sentinels without challenge. The honoree’s name and
regiment were also to be inscribed in a “Book of Merit.”
Washington’s “Purple Heart” was awarded to
only three known soldiers during the Revolutionary War: Elijah Churchill,
William Brown and Daniel Bissell, Jr. The “Book of Merit” was lost, and the
decoration was largely forgotten until 1927, when General Charles P. Summerall,
the U.S. Army chief of staff, sent an unsuccessful draft bill to Congress to
“revive the Badge of Military Merit.” In 1931, Summerall’s successor, General
Douglas MacArthur, took up the cause, hoping to reinstate the medal in time for
the bicentennial of George Washington’s birth. On February 22, 1932,
Washington’s 200th birthday, the U.S. War Department announced the creation of
the “Order of the Purple Heart.”
In addition to aspects of Washington’s
original design, the new Purple Heart also displays a bust of Washington and
his coat of arms. The Order of the Purple Heart, the oldest American military
decoration for military merit, is awarded to members of the U.S. armed forces
who have been killed or wounded in action against an enemy. It is also awarded
to soldiers who have suffered maltreatment as prisoners of war.