THE ROMANCE OF MILITARY INSIGNIA 



475 



a third for members of the Navy who 

 rendered particularly meritorious or haz- 

 ardous service, other than in battle, dur- 

 ing the war (No. 28) ; and finally, a 

 medal (No. 14) for members of the 

 Army in the Philippines who had agreed 

 to serve for the Spanish War only and 

 who were therefore entitled to their dis- 

 charge on the ratification of the Treaty 

 of Peace, but who nevertheless volun- 

 teered to remain in the islands for service 

 against the insurrectos until they could 

 be relieved by other troops. 



THE GROWTH OF PATRIOTIC SOCIETIES 



In the meantime, during the latter half 

 of the nineteenth century, the natural 

 human craving for suitable recognition 

 and decoration grew and flourished, being 

 largely instrumental in causing the for- 

 mation of various societies composed of 

 veterans of wars, descendants of vet- 

 erans, descendants of early settlers, etc., 

 all being modeled largely after the Order 

 of the Cincinnati, which was established 

 during the American Revolution. 



Each of these societies adopted a dis- 

 tinctive badge and ribbon for wear on 

 suitable occasions, and there can be no 

 doubt that this was a natural outcome of 

 the conditions which existed, as we do not 

 find in any European country such an 

 assortment of these organizations with 

 their decorative badges. 



This phase of human nature, which 

 caused their formation in the United 

 States, is sufficiently provided for in Eu- 

 rope by the various official titles, orders, 

 decorations, and medals bestowed by the 

 governments, so that there is no necessity 

 for the organization of private or semi- 

 private societies to fill the human desire 

 for distinction and decoration — a desire 

 which is evidently too strong to be re- 

 pressed by the early ideas of republican 

 simplicity. 



This idea spread and became so general 

 in America that it was found that a sol- 

 dier could wear as many as thirteen dif- 

 ferent badges by virtue of inheritance 

 alone, and yet he might never have seen 

 a shot fired — in fact, he might still be a 

 cadet at the academy or a recruit in the 

 awkward squad. 



Carried to this extreme, decorations 

 became meaningless, as they did not de- 



note personal distinction, but the deeds 

 of one's ancestors — a situation very far 

 from the democratic idea which considers 

 that all men came into the world on an 

 equality. 



As a result, the War Department, in 

 January, IQ05, published an executive 

 order establishing the principle of recog- 

 nizing service in wars and campaigns by 

 issuing distinctive medals therefor, to be 

 given to all alike, officers and men, the 

 lowest as well as the highest. 



This was the situation at the time of 

 our entrance into the war with Germany. 

 We had established the principle of sepa- 

 rate medals for the different campaigns, 

 to be given to all who served in them, 

 and we had two personal decorations for 

 distinguished services, namely, the Medal 

 of Honor, which has always been jeal- 

 ously guarded, given only for the most 

 extraordinary heroism ; and the Certifi- 

 cate of Merit, a distinction confined to 

 enlisted men. 



We had no decoration with which to 

 reward services other than heroism, noth- 

 ing corresponding in any way to the dec- 

 orations which European countries are 

 wont to bestow on successful generals 

 and other officers on whose efforts the 

 success of the fighting man mainly de- 

 pends. 



A JUNIOR REWARD NEEDED 



It seems unreasonable to reward an 

 individual act of bravery which, however 

 gallant and self-sacrificing, really has but 

 an indirect influence on the result of the 

 war, and neglect the extremely impor- 

 tant work of the master minds on whom 

 the country depends for victory. Yet 

 that was the actual condition in this coun- 

 try two years ago. In addition, it ap- 

 peared evident that something was needed 

 to supplement the Medal of Honor, some 

 junior reward for gallantry, if the former 

 was to be kept on the high plane which 

 it had hitherto enjoyed. Without sonic 

 such reward there was danger of cheap- 

 ening our primary decoration by bestow- 

 ing it for acts which deserved recognition 

 but which nevertheless did not justify the 

 distinction of the Medal of Honor. 



Another feature also arose early in the 

 war which demanded consideration. It 

 is the custom of other countries to bestow 



