Revolutionary War Historical Article
Washington's Purple Heart
By Audel H. Hicks
Editor's Note: This article was reprinted from the May 1988 Edition of the Valley Compatriot Newsletter
On February 22,
1932, Compatriot/General
Douglas MacArthur, Army Chief
of Staff, issued the
following General
Orders: "Purple Heart
- - By order of the
President of the
United States, the
Purple Heart, established
by General
George Washington at
Newburgh, August 7th,
1782, during the War
of the Revolution, is
hereby revived out of
respect of his memory
and military achievements."
And so General George Washington had when he directed, " . . . . . .that whenever any singular meritorious action is performed, the author of it shall be permitted to wear on his facings over his left breast, the figure of a heart in purple cloth or silk .........the road to Glory in a patriot army and a free country is then open to all." This order is to be considered as a "permanent one." But it wasn't permanent!
During the War of the American Revolution, General George Washington devised two "badges" of distinction to be worn by enlisted men and officers - - a chevron and a badge. The chevron was a service stripe and came to be known today as the "hash mark." The service stripe was to be worn on the left sleeve of the coat as a symbol of loyal military service. Three years for service with "bravery, fidelity and good conduct" were the criteria for earning the chevron. The second was a Badge of Military Merit. It was designed to be of purple cloth or silk in the form of a heart edged with narrow lace or binding. The recipients' names were to be inscribed in a Book of Merit.
General Washington awarded his Badge of Military Merit three times only! Two of those badges exist today -- - one in Washington, D.C. at the Society of Cincinnati's Anderson House and the other at the New Windsor Cantonment, New York, All other records, references and physical evidence relating to the Badges during the Revolutionary War have long vanished.
After the Revolution
and through
World War One, the
badge lay in disuse
and was not awarded,
contrary to General
Washington's orders,
although private efforts
from time to
time had been made to
reactivate it. As the
Bicentennial of the
birth of Washington
was drawing near,
Army Chief of Staff,
General Charles P. Summerall
drafted a bill in 1927 for
Congress to revive it. The bill
floundered so the Army withdrew
it in 1928 but prepared to do
battle at a later date. That
date came when Douglas MacArthur
succeeded General Summerall!
Initially Miss Elizabeth
Will of the Army Office of the
Quartermaster created a design
for the new badge which would
thereafter be called the "Purple Heart". John R. Sinnock, Chief Engraver of the United States
Mint in Philadelphia, was commissioned
to refine the design and
mold a plaster model in May of
1931.
In 1926 Sinnock had designed
a half dollar coin which
commemorated the Sesquicentennial
of American Independence. For the
first time a living President,
Calvin Coolidge, was depicted on
a coin. On the obverse side
Sinnock placed George Washington
in the forefront and Coolidge behind. On the reverse was an
accurate model
of our famous
Liberty Bell! Later John Sinnock
created the Roosevelt
dime and the Benjamin
Franklin half dollar.
When redesigning Miss
Will's creation he
replaced a leaf in the
center of the medal
with the profile of
George Washington.
On February 22nd
1932, General Douglas
MacArthur was ready
and introduced his
newly reinstated Badge
of Military Merit -
"The Purple Heart."
At the same time, he issued guidelines to
the Army defining the
conditions under which
the award would be
made : "[For] a wound
which necessitates
treatment by a medical officer
and which is received in action
with an enemy, [and] may in the
judgment of the commander
authorized to make the award be
construed as resulting from a
singularly meritorious act of
essential service."
On the reverse side of the
Medal Sinnock put: "FOR MILITARY
MERIT"!
