(with thanks to Earl Tourgee aka E1091@aol.com, for finding these 2 websites) As far as is known only three men were ever awarded this Badge of Military Merit. They were Sergeant Elijah Churchill of Enfield, CT, a member of the 2nd Continental Dragoons, Sergeant Daniel Brown of Stamford, CT a member of the 5th Connecticut Regiment Continental Line, and Sergeant Daniel Bissell of East Windsor, CT, a member of the 2nd Connecticut Regiment Continental Line. The first Badge of Military Merit ("a heart of purple cloth with a narrow lace or binding") was awarded to 26 year old Sergeant Elijah Churchill of Enfield, Connecticut, a member of the Fourth Troop of the Second Continental Dragoons. They were led by Major Benjamin Tallmadge of Brookhaven, Long Island, a 1773 graduate of Yale College. http://www.ctssar.org/articles/badge_of_military_merit.htm see also (and also from Earl) <A HREF="http://www.army.mil/cmh-pg/reference/PurHrt.htm">THE BADGE MILITARY MERIT/ THE PURPLE HEART</A>

Farns wrote: > (with thanks to Earl Tourgee aka E1091@aol.com, for finding >these 2 websites) > >As far as is known only three men were ever awarded this Badge of Military >Merit. They were Sergeant Elijah Churchill of Enfield, CT, a member of the >2nd Continental Dragoons, Sergeant Daniel Brown of Stamford, CT a member of >the 5th Connecticut Regiment Continental Line, and Sergeant Daniel Bissell of >East Windsor, CT, a member of the 2nd Connecticut Regiment Continental Line. > Hopefully more of the men who earned the Badge will turn up. The three we know about are because their cloth award survived. Washington's original order stated that all would be entered into a 'Book of Merit' -- a book which hasn't been discovered yet. Someplace, in some archive, is the book which will list them all. Remember that the medal itself was forgotten for 150 years & only discovered by accident. Maybe the book will turn up for the Tri-Centennial Washington's birthday bash. The post that made me wonder about this was the post on Washington's Guard by Carole - jhollin@pacifier.com ; [quoting from a book on the guard she wrote] " of the men enjoyed the highest confidence and respect of their immediate officers and the Command-in-Chief, and most of them thereafter rendered long, honorable, and faithful service whereby they became eligible to the Badge of Merit, a distinction second in rank to the Purple Heart, of which we shall hereafter speak. " [did he refer back to the "Badge of Merit" later, Carole? Might there have been a "Badge of Merit" *and* a "Badge of Military Merit"? [Confusing nomenclature is an enduring military tradition.<g>] Searching for "Badge of Merit" turned up this interesting bit; http://www.wellblack.com/cgi-bin/line/journal.cgi?folder=mun "1783 - Oliver Cromwell, an African American soldier who served in the Revolutionary War, receives an honorable discharge signed by George Washington. Cromwell, who will claim to have been with Washington when he crossed the Delaware and in the battles of Yorktown, Princeton, and Monmouth, is cited by Washington as having earned "the Badge of Merit for six years' faithful service." " That sounded suspect to me until I saw this autograph site; http://www.frontrow.com/autographs/autogal.html [a framed document for $20,000] #545 Document Signed, June 8, 1783, as Commander-in-Chief of the Continental Army. Washington signs a discharge for a Revolutionary War soldier, Joseph Branch, of the Third Continental Regiment. The folio, document states that the bearer " . . . having faithfully served the United States from January 1, 1777 ... and being enlisted for the War only, is hereby discharged from the American Army." On the bottom it records that Branch "has been honored with the Badge of Merit for six years faithful service." One the back of the document is a note where Washington stipulates that the discharge shall not be effective "until the Ratification of the definitive Treaty of. Peace; previous to which Time, and until Proclamation thereof shall be made, He is to be considered as being on Furlough." http://www.ulysses.ny.us/trumansburg.html Mentions a Trumansburg, NY soldier who was allegedly awarded the Badge of Merit. [Abner TREMAN - served in MA & NY Regiments] http://www5.pair.com/vtandrew/ramsdell/i0012432.htm A genealogy site which claims James RAMSDELL was awarded the Badge of Merit "for six years faithful service. " http://ourworld.compuserve.com/homepages/jtrue/Hewett.htm Says there are copies of the papers for William HEWITT's Badge of Merit in the "book William Hewett and his Descendants by Evelyn Hewett" I stopped looking at this point-- but there is certainly enough there to make me wonder if there were two awards, or if the 'only three were awarded' truism isn't so true after all. It's enough that I won't just write off as idle family-legend if I hear about someone other than 'the three' who was awarded a 'Badge of Merit'. Jim