Show th ike e order r d e r of the PURPLE P 1 I U arp LE pj 4 ta 4 q Z V A the of the purple dcarr C 07 ge wa r h ington ph tv af pf fa bat J ely by ELMO SCOTT WATSON HEN gen john J pershing commander in chief of the A K B P F in W the world war made repeated reo rec for the creation of it a special decoration for our fighting men to lie be awarded in exceptional exception ILI cases case wl which ach would not come within the scope op e of the congressional medal of honor the distinguished service cross or the distinguished service medal he did not know that al authority dhority for such a decoration was already in existence in fact had been ln in existence tor for nearly years it was n not 0 t il until riall john C fitzpatrick formerly cliplef of the manuscript division sion of the library of congress now affiliated with the george washington bicentennial celebration commission revealed the result of researches which he had bad made several years ago that the war department realized just such a decoration had been authorized way back in 1782 and so far as it has been possible to learn authority to award it has never been revoked either by congress or the president while gen charles P summerall crall was chief of staff a study of the situation was made and a recommendation that the award of this decoration be ba resumed without additional authority from congress seemed probable no definite action was taken at tile the time however but with preparations for the wide celebration of the two hundredth anniversary of the birth of washington nearing completion it seems likely that this award may yet be reestablished established re for tt it was george washington who established tills this award the first military decoration ever conferred by tills this country and the second oldest reward for valor in existence being antedated only by the russian cross of st george known officially as the badge of the order of military merit it Is also referred to as the order of the purple Ile heart artl because of the shape chape of the badge it consists of a heart shaped piece of purple silk fringed with lace which was to be sewn on the left breast of the soldiers tunic A pe peculiar rullar situation led washington to establish the award during the revolution it was the custom for washington and other generals t to 0 give commissions and promotions as rewards for valor but congress decided that it alone had the power to issue commissions to officers and took that power awny away from the generals money was scarce and washington could not use it ns as a reward so ho be conceived the idea of awarding a badge of merit accordingly on angust 2 1782 he issued tile the following general order order the general ever desirous to cherish a virtuous ambition in his soldiers as well as to foster and encourage every species of military merit directs that whenever any singularly action Is performed the author of it shall be permitted to wear on tile the facings over his left breast the figure of a heart in purple cloth or silk edged with narrow lace or binding not only th instances stances of unusual gallantry but also of extraordinary fidelity and essential service in any way shall meet with a due reward before this favor can be conferred on any man the particular fact or facts on which it la Is to be grounded must he be set forth to the commander in chief accompanied with certificates from the commanding officers of the he regiment and brigade to which the candidate for reward belonged or other proofs and upon granting it the name rind regiment of the person with the action so BO certified are to he enrolled in the book of merit wych which will he be kept at the orderly ollice men alen who have merited this last distinction to be suffered to pass all guards and sentinels which off officers leers are permitted to do the road to glory in a patriot army and a free country Is thus open to all this order la Is also to have retrospect to the earliest stages of the war and to bo be considered as a permanent one so far as it has boon been possible to learn the only names ever written in the book of merit and the only men empowered to wear the purple heart badge were man sergeants in the continental army all from the state of connecticut they were sergt elijah churchill of f the second continental dragoons sergt daniel brown of the fifth connecticut regiment and sergt daniel bissell of tho the second connecticut regiment the original citation of sergeant Chur chills exploits which won him this award Is preserved in the library of congress and states that sergt Ch Chuc hlll of the and 2nd nd regiment of light dragoons in the several enterprises against fort st george and fort on lons long island acted a very conspicuous and singularly part in that at the hoad flood of each body of attack lie ho not only acquitted acquit teti himself with great gallantry firmness and address but that the surprise in one instance and the success of the attack in the other proceed ed in a considerable degree from his conduct and management acer ing to the story as it lins lias been dug out of musty old records by mr fitzgerald sergeant churchill first attracted the attention ot of his superior officers for his daring in leading a dangerous raid inside the british lines before dawn on november 23 1780 1780 ne lie again displayed outstanding valor in another hazardous raid right under tile the noses of the british on october 3 1781 both raids were planned and directed by maj benjamin tallmadge nadge of the second continental dragoons chief of ing tons intelligence service major tallmadge had received information concerning a huge supply ol of hay several hundred tons of it that had been stored for winter farago in a building at coram on the north shore chore of long island hay in that dakof day of cavalry supremacy was one of the important lup plies of warfare major Talla mdge relayed the tha information direct to general washington with an astounding plan for attempting not only to destroy tile the forage but to stor storm a f fortification ort atlon which protected it tile the intrepid intrepid major was authorized to make the attempt late on the blustery afternoon of november 21 1780 a detachment of halt half a hundred dismounted dragoons of the second continental embarked in whale whaleboats boats at fairfield conn and headed across the sound toward fort st george 20 miles away with major tallmadge nadge in command they landed about eight in the evening and deciding that it was too late to attempt a march on the fort they pulled their boats boata out of sight and camped for the night all the nest day they huddled to in the woods trying to keep warm and when night came they set out at a rapid pace for the fort by three in the morning they arrived undiscovered within two miles of fort st george here they halted for final orders major tallmadge divided his force into three groups each assigned to storm a particular blockhouse sixteen of tile most daring members were picked for the assault on the main block blockhouse libuse and sergeant churchill was put in command of this group just before dawn tile the three detachments moved toward the fort taking different routes to minimize the chances of discovery and to enable them to launch concerted attacks from three different points the british sentinels seem to have been sleeping at their posts for they did not discover the attackers until churchill and his men were less than GO CO feet away and sprinting toward the walls immediately gave the alarm but by ahn time the americans had swarmed over the wall crossed the ditch arnd were inside the stockade where they opened fire on the british soldiers as they came tumbling out of their barracks the other two two attacking parties lind had expended their energies in getting inside the defenses and two block blockhouses bouses still remained to be taken writes mr air fitzgerald in an account of this battle battie which appeared in the magn magazine zine of the daughters of the american revolution several years ago A brisk fire was beginning to pour upon the americans from these two houses but battering parties beat in the doors and inside inalda of 10 more minutes Tall madges men had possession of the entire works the growing light now showed a british supply schooner at anchor close to the shore near the fort A detachment captured her with ridiculous ense ease the rapidity of the attack had protected the etta attackers chers and they had bad not lost a man and only one of them was wounded the british loss was several killed and 1 and most of the latter were mortally hurt the fort and the schooner were set on fire alra and the prisoners over GO 50 in number were started back toward the boats under a guard leaving a small force to see to it that the fort was completely destroyed tallmadge marched with the rest toward coram tile the few sentries found there led fled and tho the h chiy ly was pulled loose find set on ire fire over 1300 tons went up tip in rolling clouds of smoke and as soon as tho the tire was going beyond nil all hope of extinguishment tallmadge and abid ills his hay burners started back toward toward their boats the party of americans americana reached their hidden boats late in the afternoon after one or two brief skirmishes with the pursuers and the force succeeded in getting away from shore without casualties they arrived back at fairfield before midnight that was tile the first of the affairs which won for churchill the purple heart the next wits was in the following october when washington made plans for destroying fort located on the northshore north shore of long island northeast of 0 brooklyn again major tallmadge secured the necessary exact information which led to the attack on this post the attacking party consisted of men from the fifth connecticut regiment and the second continental W mal maj gen C 13 summerall dragoons maj lemuel trescott a massachi Mass Moss achu officer volunteered to lead the party the expedition started across the sound at eight in the evening of october Z 2 1781 writes mr fitzpatrick and at three tn in the morning the fort was in its hands again sergeant churchill was in the ran of the first attacking party and again he acquitted himself with the utmost gallantry the fort was so strong that tallmadge had advised trescott not to make a direct attack but to try to draw off the defenders by a feint this idea was waa not followed the attacking force went at their job with such vigor that the tort fort wax waa taken without the loss of a single man and only tour four ol of the british force were killed beford the works surrendered the report of the tha affair shows 21 prisoners prisoner taken and the destruction of a goodly quantity of artillery and stores or arms ammunition and clothing sergeant brown was his purple heart 12 days later at yorktown the citation of the board of awards dated april 24 1783 Is among the washington papers in the library of congress the board was vaa composed of brig gen john greaton col walter stewart Bt ewart col ebenezer sprout and majo aias nicholas fish and lemuel Trese trescott ott the board declared that sergeant brown in the assault of the left redoubt at yorktown la in virginia on the evening of october 14 1781 conducted a forlorn hope with great bravery propriety and deliberate firmness and that his general character appears unexceptionable sergeant brown was serving under kleut col alexander hamilton who had bad been assigned the task of taking one of two british re doubts that were stubbornly resisting the siege of yorktown the other redoubt was to be attacked by allied french troops the americans volunteered to storm the outer redoubt which was close to the river and the french were to attack the tha inner redoubt the sergeant led his forlorn hope at the forefront of the attackers and refused even to await destruction of the and other obstructions calling to his men to follow closely lie he surmounted all the obstacles obstacle and led his bli men directly into the redoubt A withering barrage failed to stop them and the unbelievable courage of the little party so confounded the defenders that the redoubt surrendered tn in less than 15 minutes from the time brown and hla his men launched the attack the american losses were comparatively few As for the exploit which won the purple heart decoration for sergeant bissell Bl ssell the record Is far from complete due to the fact that it was in line of duty as a spy in order to accomplish his mission he had to desert from the amort amerl can army and in the faded revolutionary records in the war department he Is listed as a deserter but the cit citation ution for the purple heart decoration contained in general orders for june 8 1783 while it does not con tain fain the full story of bissells heroism contains a hint of what it must have been and removes from his name the stigma attached to it by the notation in the off official lelal records the cl e reads as follows sergt ex mgt bissell of th the e 2nd and connecticut regiment having performed some important services the immediate knowledge of the commander in chief in which the fidelity perseverance and good sense of the said sergt bissell were conspicuously manifested to I 1 13 19 therefore ordered that he be honored with the badge of merit he will call at bead headquarters on thursday nest for the insignia ard certificate to which he Is hereby entitled so far as it Is possible to reconstruct the story bissell deserted from the army in august 1781 and made his way into new york city his mission was to obtain all the information he could about the plans of the tha british and costay to stay no longer than was necessary necessary to accomplish com his purpose A year passed and nothing was heard from bissell by his regimental officer col robert hanson harrison harrisod or his commander in chief for all that they knew his mission may have been discovered by the tha british and he may have paid tile the usual penalty for being a spy then one day in september 1782 bissell reported at headquarters at newburgh N Y and made bl his verbal er report which was taken down by col david humphreys by we tern union uin |