During the Revolutionary War, the Continental Congress and its successor, the Confederation Government, commemorated significant victories on land and sea against the British by awarding gold medals to key leaders, such as George Washington and John Paul Jones.
With war’s end in 1783, thoughts turned to other matters and the idea of a gold medal did not arise again for several years. In this article we will discuss two medals that were awarded in 1800 and 1804, respectively. Both were naval in character, for victories on the high seas.
The Truxtun Medal of 1800
Every school boy and girl know of the great aid given by France to America during the Revolutionary War. Without it, England might well have defeated the rebellious colonists. Yet few know that in the 1790s, friendship turned to hate and there was open warfare on the high seas between the two nations.
Even more curious is the fact that Congress awarded a gold medal to an American naval commander for a battle in a war that was never declared. It all began in the early 1790s. The French Revolution arrived in 1789, but trouble arose when fanatics seized control of that government and instituted the infamous Terror. Thousands went to their deaths on the guillotine, including Louis XVI and Marie Antoinette, Arrogant French ambassadors to the U.S. in the early 1790s, such as “Citizen” Genet, managed to infuriate even President George Washington with tactless remarks about the “real” democracy that now existed
