Valor Friday

Major John André- did not receive an award.

Mason sends.

Today I’m going to discuss men who received our nation’s first, and thus highest, honors. I started this article last week before realizing that laying the groundwork for what these medals were and where they fit into the US awards and decorations system required its own article. For the primer, see last week’s article on awards history here; https://valorguardians.com/blog/?p=101734.

The first award presented to American servicemen was the Fidelity Medallion. It was awarded by an act of the Continental Congress in 1780.

Fidelity Medallion

In 1779 Major John André of the British Army became the Adjutant General in America and then took command of the British Secret Service in America, Britain’s intelligence organization. It was under these auspices that André would come to work with American General Benedict Arnold, whom he’d connected with through Arnold’s Tory-sympathizing wife.

General Benedict Arnold

Arnold had become disillusioned with the American cause and negotiated an appointment to the British Army as a brigadier general. His list of grievances were long, but Arnold turned traitor most likely because he was indebted to Congress and had lived a lavish lifestyle he was unable to afford. In exchange for his new generalcy, Arnold was willing to give up his command, the Continental Army’s strategic stronghold at West Point, NY. Arnold had been given the command of West Point as he was one of Washington’s most trusted generals.

September 1780 saw André clandestinely sneak to West Point to meet with Arnold. The ship he’d sailed up the Hudson River on was forced to retreat due to American Militia fire before André was able to return aboard.

André was spirited away through the woods of Upstate New York, provided with civilian clothing, papers in Arnold’s own hand showing how to take the fort, and a passport allowing André passage through American lines. On the morning of September 23rd at about 9am he was nearing Tarrytown, NY, about 30 miles south of West Point.

André came upon three men, one of whom was wearing a Hessian overcoat. The overcoat led him to think that the men were Tories, in other words, on his side. He asked them, “Gentlemen, I hope you belong to our party?” When asked which party that was, André replied “The lower party”, meaning the English. The men told him they were indeed. Unfortunately for André, they were New York Militiamen and played it cool.

It was then that André, wearing civilian clothing, explained he was a British officer carrying vital information and needn’t be delayed. The three men then informed André of their true allegiance and told him he was their prisoner.

The three men, Privates John Paulding, Isaac Van Wart, and David Williams, searched André and found the plans of West Point, though Arnold, one of Washington’s right-hand men, was not immediately suspected. Arnold would eventually escape to British lines and receive his general’s commission. His treachery was worth an annual salary of £360 and a lump sum of £6,000 (equivalent to more than $140,000 today). He led Tory troops against his countrymen (including a massacre very near where he grew up) and eventually retired to London after the war.

André attempted to bribe the American privates with his horse and watch if they would let him loose, but Paulding (the only one of the men who could read) had seen the plans and deduced André was a spy and they brought him in. Arnold’s deception was uncovered. André was tried by a military court and found guilty of espionage and hanged.

Congress recognized Paulding, Van Wart, and Williams with the Fidelity Medallion, the first official award of these United States. The medallion was a silver disc oval in shape. On the front is a heart surrounded by vines and leaves of laurel with the inscription “Fidelity”. On the reverse is “Amor Patriæ Vincit”, which means, “The love of country conquers.”

Only ever awarded to these three men for this single event, it became regarded as a commemorative decoration relatively quickly. It’s probably fair to consider it as similar to the award “The Thanks of Congress” which was a 19th Century award that eventually morphed into the Congressional Gold Medal of present day.

All three Fidelity Medal recipients received an annual pension from Congress in the form of $200 (roughly $5,500 today) and farmsteads from the State of New York. André impugned their character but all three men were celebrated as heroes during their lives and in the decades after.

They would all survive the war and live to 59 (Paulding), 65 (Van Wart), and 77 (Williams) and were lifelong residents of New York. Van Wart’s medal was thought to have been lost, but is in the hands of a descendent in Westchester County, NY. Both Paulding’s and Williams’ medals had been donated in 1905 to the New York Historical Society where they were on display with André’s watch. In 1975 the two medallions and the watch were stolen and have yet to be recovered.

General George Washington

Since the Fidelity Medallion was considered, even shortly after its issuance, as a commemorative decoration, the “first” military award is often considered to be George Washington’s Badge of Military Merit. As with the Fidelity Medallion, it was only ever awarded to enlisted soldiers, a sharp break with European traditions, whose aristocracy looked down on the common man.

George Washington’s Badge of Military Merit

The Badge of Military Merit, a purple colored cloth heart with “Merit” inscribed on it, was created by Washington in 1782 specifically to honor soldiers who displayed “not only instances of unusual gallantry in battle, but also extraordinary fidelity and essential service in any way.”

Award of the badge would be done at the highest levels of the Army and only upon written testimony from a soldier’s commanding officers. Recipients would have their names recorded in a “book of merit” to be kept at the orderly office. They would also be entitled to pass any guards or sentinels in the same manner as officers were permitted to pass unchallenged.

Washington’s commitment to his soldiers down to the lowest man is legendary. He describes the Badge of Military Merit in a way that exemplifies that. In the general order creating it, he said “The road to glory in a patriot army and a free country is thus open to all” by not having the award tied to any requirements of rank.

History records at least three men to have received the badge. The first man, Sergeant WIlliam Brown, of the 5th Connecticut Regiment, received the Badge of Military Merit for participation in the Assault on Redoubt 10 during the Siege of Yorktown. No award citation survived to describe what Sgt Brown did during the battle to earn the accolade, but the attack on Redoubt 10 is a well documented American victory. The assault was led by a 26 year old lieutenant colonel whose name will be familiar to most Americans; Alexander Hamilton.

Redoubt 10 was a fortification holding 70 British troops. The Americans attacked the heavily fortified post with about 400 men. Charging with fixed bayonets, they panicked the British, while an American force encircled the outpost, preventing their retreat. The men chopped through the wooden abatis. Men stood on the shoulders of their comrades in the trenches to reach over the revetments and into the enemy.

As they charged forward through heavy British fire and hand grenade attacks, someone near the front emboldened the Yanks and said, “Rush on boys! The fort’s ours!” Despite attacking a defended position, the American forces that Sergeant Brown was among overwhelmed the enemy but suffered only nine killed in the battle and 25 wounded. With this and other redoubts captured, the Siege of Yorktown commenced in earnest. Yorktown became a significant military victory for the Americans and saw the surrender of nearly 7,800 British troops.

After the war, Brown moved to the newly settled town of Cincinnati, where he would remain for the rest of his life. Brown’s badge was thought lost until it was found in a barn in New Hampshire in the 1920s. A badge that’s purported to be Brown’s is on display in New Hampshire, but experts disagree if this is in fact Brown’s or another, undocumented recipient’s.

Elijah Churchill of Connecticut was 20 years old when he enlisted in 1775 as a private with the 8th Connecticut Regiment to participate in the War for Independence. The 8th Connecticut Regiment participated in the American victory of the Siege of Boston in 1775 and the American defeat at the Battle of Long Island the following year.

Churchill re-enlisted for the duration of the war in 1777 as a corporal in the 2nd Continental Light Dragoons. The 2nd Dragoons were one of the more professional, disciplined units of the Continental Army. Rarely employed as a large formation, elements of the 2nd Dragoons served as General Washington’s personal guard (their efficiency of protection foiled at least one British plan to kidnap him) and guarded Major John André after his arrest, during his trial, and eventual execution. The 2nd Dragoons, led by spymaster Major Benjamin Tallmadge, became “Washington’s Eyes” for their ability to intercept British supply lines and to infiltrate British units.

Participating in many of the battles the 2nd Dragoons were involved with, Churchill was cited for gallantry in action at Fort St. George, New York as a newly promoted sergeant in November 1780. Near Tarrytown, NY in July 1781 he was again cited for gallantry in action. He was cited a third time for gallantry at Fort Slongo (or Fort Salonga) on Long Island, NY in October 1781.

With his record of service and combat bravery, it’s no surprise that General Washington selected Elijah Churchill as one of the first two recipients of his new Badge of Military Merit on May 3rd, 1783 (William Brown received the other inaugural award).

After the war, Churchill moved to Massachusetts. He lived there for the rest of his life, until dying in 1841. He and his wife Elinor (m. 1777) had eight children from 1782 to 1798. As was unfortunately all too common at the time, one daughter died shortly after birth, his eldest son died at age 12, and another daughter died at age two. Five of his children survived to adulthood.

Churchill’s descendent, a farmer in Michigan, wrote to the National Temple Hill Association after finding his ancestor’s badge. The badge is now owned by the Association and is on display at New Windsor Cantonment State Historic Site.

On June 10th, 1783, the third award of a Badge of Military Merit was made to Daniel Bissell. His contributions to the Revolutionary War were considerable, and his personal bravery is impressive.

He started the war as a corporal, enlisting for the duration, with the 5th Connecticut Regiment in 1776. In September 1777 he was promoted to sergeant and was then with the 2nd Connecticut Regiment. In 1781, under orders from George Washington himself, Bissell posed as a deserter and sent to New York to spy on the British, who occupied the city.

Bissell knew that to get the intelligence Washington required, he’d have to enlist with the British Army. He joined and served for 13 months as a soldier in the British Infantry Corps, this corps being led by the traitor Benedict Arnold.

Memorizing all that he could, Bissell fled the city and returned to Continental lines. Arrested as a deserter, he passed his information to Washington. After verifying his intelligence, Bissell was released. He was able to draw detailed maps of British positions and provided other important information for the American cause.

He was the third verified recipient of the Badge of Military Merit. Bissell’s badge was lost in a house fire in 1813. After the War for Independence he returned to the civilian sector, but took a commission as a first lieutenant in the 16th Infantry Regiment for 15 months during the Quasi-War with France. He died in Richmond, NY in 1824. His tombstone reads, in part, “He had the confidence of Washington and served under him.”

While Washington created the Badge of Military Merit itself and the criteria for award, the idea for a purple cloth heart as the symbol of the badge came to Washington from Bissell. The story goes that Bissell and his future wife were dancing at a formal ball, with Washington in attendance. While dancing, Bissell stepped on the young lady’s purple dress, tearing a piece of fabric off. Picking it up, he folded it into a heart shape and told her to hold onto it. When this anecdote was relayed to Washington, inspiration struck and he chose the unlikely form of a purple heart as his new country’s first military award.

The Badge of Military Merit was likely awarded to more than these three men, but historical records haven’t survived. After the war, the badge was never again awarded, though it remained in the Army’s regulations as an authorized award.

In the 1920s, the Chief of Staff of the US Army  wanted to revive the badge, but the bill sent to Congress regarding it went nowhere. When Douglas MacArthur became Chief of Staff, he restarted the effort. Thus in 1932, the Purple Heart medal was created. It is the official successor decoration to the Badge of Military Merit. It was instituted on the 200th anniversary of George Washington’s birth. The Purple Heart, as most of you will know, is awarded to receiving wounds in combat. Despite the Purple Heart being awarded for completely different criteria than the Badge that it succeeded, it is officially the successor decoration of the Badge.

Hand Salute. Ready, Two!
Thanks again, Mason.

Category: Guest Post, The Warrior Code, Valor