On December 19, 1777, commander of the Continental Army
George Washington, the future first president of the United
States, lead his beleaguered troops into winter quarters at
Valley Forge, Pennsylvania.

Things could hardly have looked bleaker for Washington
and the Continental Army as 1777 came to a close.

No one knew better than Washington that the army was on
the brink of collapse—in fact, he had defied Congress’
demand that he launch a mid-winter attack against the
British at Philadelphia and instead fell back to Valley
Forge to rest and refit his troops.

As related in a letter dated the following day, General
George Washington wrote to Congress from his
headquarters in  Trenton, New Jersey, to report that
he had transported much      

of the Continental Army’s stores and baggage across the
Delaware River to Pennsylvania on December 2, 1776.

His famous crossing of the Delaware would come less than
one month later.

In his letter, Washington wrote, "Immediately on my arrival
here, I ordered the removal of all the military and other stores
and baggage over the Delaware, a great quantity are already
got over, and as soon as the boats come up from Philadelphia,
we shall load them, by which means I hope to have every
thing secured this night and tomorrow if we are not disturbed."

George Washington’s farewell to his officers at Fraunces
Tavern in New York City on Dec. 4, 1783, marked his
resignation as commander of the Continental Army
after the Revolutionary War victory.

George Washington leaves Fraunces Tavern in New York
City after bidding farewell to the officers of his army.

Washington is shown leaving New York City.

In a letter dated December 3, 1776, General George Washington
wrote to Congress from his headquarters in Trenton, New Jersey,
to report that he had transported much of the Continental Army’s
stores and baggage across the Delaware River to Pennsylvania.

His famous crossing of the Delaware would come less than one
month later. 

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.”