The U.S. Congressional Medal of Honor has
a somewhat brief history compared to other countries. It does
have a direct linkage to the Civil War and was created during
that conflict. The first heroic act for which the Medal of Honor
would be awarded
for heroism has direct links back
to personnel from the Drum Barracks, although the award was a
little late in coming to the recipient, as the history will show
Long after the United States had declared
itself independent from England, Americans still shared a general
distaste for any lingering reminder of the British nobility. The
thought of fancy dress uniforms decked with rows of colorful medals
reminded them of the crusty aristocracy whose domination their
forefathers had fought so hard to escape. So except for one short-lived
recognition program initiated by George Washington in 1782, the
U.S. military never instituted a formal system of rewarding individual
gallantry with medals.
The first formal system for rewarding acts
of individual gallantry by the nation’s fighting men was
established by General George Washington on August 7, 1782. Designed
to recognize "any singularly meritorious action," the
award consisted of a purple cloth heart. Records show that only
three persons received the ward: Sergeant Elijah Churchill, Sergeant
William Brown, and Sergeant Daniel Bissel Jr.
The Badge of Military Merit, as it was called,
fell into oblivion until 1932, when General Douglas MacArthur,
then Army Chief of Staff, pressed for its revival. Officially
reinstituted on February 22, 1932, the now familiar Purple Heart
was at first an Army award, given to those who had been wounded
in World War I or who possessed a Meritorious Service Citation
Certificate. In 1943, the order was amended to include personnel
of the Navy, Marine Corps, and Coast Guard. Coverage was eventually
extended to include all services and "any civilian national"
wounded while serving with the Armed Forces.
Although the Badge of Military Merit fell
into disuse after the Revolutionary War, the idea of a decoration
for individual gallantry remained through the early 1800s. In
1847, after the outbreak of the Mexican-American War, a "certificate
of merit" was established for any soldier who distinguished
himself in action. No medal went with the honor. After the Mexican-American
War, the award was discontinued, which meant there was no military
award with which to recognize the nation’s fighting men.
At the start of the Civil War, the anti
medal bias pervaded the U.S. Army‘s high command. A medal
for individual valor was proposed to General-in-Chief of the Army
Winfield Scott. Yet Scott still felt all medals smacked of European
affectation and killed the idea. It required action by the navy
to force the Scott and the army to reconsider its position.
The medal found support in the Navy, however,
where it was felt recognition of courage in strife was needed.
When Navy Secretary Gideon Wells asked Congress to approve a medal
for the Navy, his request was granted. On December 9, 1861 Iowa
Senator James W. Grimes introduced SB No 82 in the United States
Senate, a bill designed to "promote the efficiency of the
Navy" by authorizing the production and distribution of
"medals of honor".
President Lincoln signed the Navy Medal
of Honor bill on December 21, 1861. The medal was "to be
bestowed upon such petty officers, seamen, landsmen, and Marines
as shall most distinguish themselves by their gallantry and other
seamanlike qualities during the present war." Not to be out
done by the navy, the army developed it’s own program, and
on July 12, 1862, the Army Medal of Honor bill became law. Although
frequently referred to as the "Congressional Medal of Honor,"
the correct term is simply "Medal of Honor." Only enlisted
men were eligible for the award initially, Commissioned Officers
were exempt as it was thought that promotions would suffice for
officers.
Shortly after this late 1861 bill, a resolution
similar in wording was introduced on behalf of the Army. It was
signed into law July 12, 1862, the measure provided for awarding
a medal of honor "to such noncommissioned officers and privates
as shall most distinguish themselves by their gallantry in action,
and other soldierlike qualities, during the present insurrection."
The law was later amended on March 3, 1863,
to include all officers.
Although it was created for the Civil War,
Congress made the Medal of Honor a permanent decoration in 1863.
Through the course of the war, 2,438 Medals of Honor were awarded
for "gallantry in action." That number seemed far too
large to those scrutinizing the recognition program a few decades
later. So an Army commission was formed to review the situation.
On January 17, 1917, the commission ruled that many of the medals
issued since the program’s inception had been awarded outside
the scope of it’s original intent. The ruling rescinded 911
of the medals, including the 864 given to all members of on Civil
War regiment.
Officially then, the final tally for the
Medal of Honor winners during the Civil War was 1,200 soldiers,
310 sailors, and 17 marines. The first medals were presented by
Secretary of War Edwin M. Stanton to six members of "Mitchell’s
Raiders" and the last was awarded 41 years after the war’s
end.
On July 9, 1918, Congress approved two "secondary
medals": the Distinguished Service Cross and the Silver Star.
Later, the other medals were added to the so-called "Pyramid
of Honor." The warrant for the Medal of Honor was clarified
as "gallantry and intrepidity at the risk of life, above
and beyond the call of duty." The clarification also specified
that the gallant action should have been such that, if the nominee
had not acted as he did, he could not have been criticized.
The Drum Barracks Connection:
Army Assistant Surgeon Bernard J.D. Irwin
rescues the 60 soldiers of 2d Lt. George Bascom's unit at Apache
Pass, Arizona, 13-14 February 1861. Though the Medal of Honor
had not yet been proposed in Congress (and actually wouldn't even
be presented to Irwin until 1894, it was the first heroic act
for which the Medal of Honor would be awarded.
The Citation Reads as follows:
Voluntarily took command of troops and attacked
and defeated hostile Indians he met on the way. Surgeon Irwin
volunteered to go to the rescue of 2d Lt. George N. Bascom, 7th
Infantry, who with 60 men was trapped by Chiricahua Apaches under
Cochise. Irwin and 14 men, not having horses began the 100-mile
march, riding mules. After fighting and capturing Indians, recovering
stolen horses and cattle, he reached Bascom's column and help
break his siege.
Rank and organization: Assistant Surgeon,
U.S. Army. Place and date: Apache Pass, Arizona
Territory,. Entered service at: New York. Born:
24 June 1830, Ireland. Date of issue: 24 January
1894.
Bibliography:
"Congressional Medal of Honor Society"
Web Page, www.cmohs.org/medal/medal_history
created by Doug Sterner, and an article by John E. Aliyetti in
Civil War Times Magazine, entitled, "A Long Time Coming,"
dated October 1996.
Floyd Farrar, Drum Barracks Volunteer
