Recipients
Most historians indicate that only three people received the Badge of Military Merit during the American Revolutionary War, all of them noncommissioned officers, and the only ones who received the award from General Washington himself. Those soldiers are as follows:
On May 3, 1783
- Sergeant William Brown of the 5th Connecticut Regiment of the Connecticut Line
- Sergeant Elijah Churchill of the 2nd Continental Light Dragoons
On June 10, 1783
- Sergeant Daniel Bissell of the 2nd Connecticut Regiment of the Connecticut Line
While these three soldiers were most likely the first to receive the Badge of Military Merit, discharge certificates of other Revolutionary War soldiers indicate that they also received the "Badge of Merit" for their years of faithful service. Microfilmed images of these discharges bearing Washington's signature can be found in the individual records of soldiers at the National Archives.
George Washington's papers show that he also referred to the Badge of Military Merit as the Badge of Merit. This is evident in his orders to award the above-mentioned Sergeants Brown, Churchill and Bissell. The "book of merit" or orderly book mentioned by Washington in his general orders of August 7, 1782 in which the awards were to be recorded has never been found.
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