On August 7, 1782, in Newburgh, New York, General George Washington,
the commander in chief of the Continental Army, created 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.”