Revolutionary War Patriot Discharges: A Companion to The Book of Merit: a coMPANION TO tHE bOOK OF mERIT...

— —

Kenneth Wayne Virgil

Revolutionary War Patriot Discharges

Name: Revolutionary War Patriot Discharges
Price: 146.42 AUD
Availability: OutOfStock
ISBN: 9780806322148

A Companion to The Book of Merit: a coMPANION TO tHE bOOK OF mERIT

Kenneth Wayne Virgil

$182.95 $146.42

Paperback

Not in-store but you can order this
How long will it take?

Availability Information

We source books from suppliers in Australia and overseas. For books we don't currently have in stock, the time it takes to get them from our suppliers can vary widely - from a few days to a few months - so we check each book with each supplier to determine the expected time it will take to be supplied to us.

We will update you on expected arrival time to us. If this delay is too long, please let us know within 2 business days and we can give you options regarding cancelling or adjusting your order. More details on cancelling your order can be found in our Terms of Trade.

To find out the anticipated arrival time for specific items prior to ordering, please contact us by phone or email:

Phone +61 2 9264 3111, or 1800 4 BOOKS (1800 4 26657) if outside Sydney:
option 1 Abbey's Bookshop (Crime, History, Science, Kids & more) • info@abbeys.com.au
option 2 Language Book Centre (ESL & Foreign Languages) • language@abbeys.com.au
option 3 Galaxy Bookshop (Sci-fi, Fantasy, Romance, Graphic Novels) • sf@galaxybooks.com.au

QTY:

English

Genealogical Publishing Company
04 May 2026

Reference works; History of the Americas; Genealogy, heraldry, names & honours; Military history; Family history, tracing ancestors

Summary
Details

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.

By: Kenneth Wayne Virgil
Imprint: Genealogical Publishing Company
Dimensions: Height: 279mm, Width: 216mm, Spine: 25mm
Weight: 1.125kg
ISBN: 9780806322148
ISBN 10: 0806322144
Pages: 490
Publication Date: 04 May 2026
Audience: General/trade , ELT Advanced
Format: Paperback
Publisher's Status: Active