Washington's Headquarters State Historic Site

New York

The medal that became the Purple Heart was handed out to its first three recipients on this front lawn.

historicalmilitary

In August of 1782, George Washington created something new from a stone farmhouse above the Hudson. He called it the Badge of Military Merit, and it could go to enlisted men and sergeants for long service or acts of heroism. Despite the loose wording, only three men ever received it. Two sergeants from Connecticut got theirs in May of 1783. A third followed that June. Washington pinned all three on personally, out on the front lawn of the Newburgh headquarters. It is widely considered the first military decoration in the United States, and the second oldest in the world. Then it was essentially forgotten for a century and a half. In 1927 the Army Chief of Staff tried to revive it and the bill was withdrawn. Four years later Douglas MacArthur quietly reopened the work. An Army heraldic specialist named Elizabeth Will redesigned it. The revived version became the Purple Heart.

This is the first of 3 parts. The rest runs about 3 minutes and is read to you as you drive past. Hear the whole piece.

What this was written from
General Washington awarded the Badge to its recipients personally on the front lawn of Newburgh Headquarters.

Written from Wikipedia, used under CC BY-SA 4.0.

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