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by Kenneth Wayne Virgil (Author)
This work continues the documentary record begun in The Book of Merit. While the earlier volume assembled the surviving discharge papers that explicitly record the notation of the Badge of Honorary Distinction, this companion volume gathers the equally important discharges in which no such notation appears. George Washington established the Badge of Honorary Distinction to recognize enlisted soldiers who had served more than three years with good conduct. Yet Washington's orders defined the standard of merit without creating a formal administrative system for identifying or recording recipients. As the army moved rapidly toward demobilization in 1783, implementation depended largely upon local command structures and surviving records.
The discharge certificates reproduced here reflect the resulting complexity of the historical record. Some document brief enlistments, others medical discharges or interrupted service, and may record honorable service completed before Washington's orders were issued. Still others certify years of faithful service but contain no reference to the badge itself.
Drawn from the Revolutionary War Pension and Bounty Land Warrant Application Files (M804) at the National Archives, these documents preserve the surviving evidence of Continental Army service. Together with The Book of Merit, they provide a fuller documentary record of the soldiers whose honorable service helped secure American independence.
