Editing David Bushnell (inventor) (section)

==Continental Army service==
In 1778, General Washington proposed the formation of a new military unit to be known as the "Corps of Sappers and Miners" (i.e. combat engineers) and in the summer of the next year it was organized. Bushnell was given command of the Corps with the rank of captain-lieutenant on August 2, 1779. On May 6, 1779, he was taken prisoner in Middlesex Parish, now [[Darien, Connecticut]], and was later exchanged.

On June 8, 1781, Bushnell was commissioned as a captain in the [[Continental Army]] and was at the [[Siege of Yorktown]] in September and October of that year. This was the only time the Sappers and Miners had had the opportunity to serve in combat.

Bushnell served in the Army until he was discharged on June 3, 1783. He then became an original member of the Connecticut [[Society of the Cincinnati]], an organization formed by officers who were veterans of the Continental Army and Navy.

At some point after the Revolution, Bushnell was presented a medal by George Washington.