Bliss received the country's highest award for bravery during combat, the Medal of Honor, for his actions to counter a Confederate advance in Waynesboro, Virginia on 28 September 1864.

In September 1864, while in command of a provost guard in the Shenandoah Valley he performed an act of gallantry that resulted in his capture by Confederate soldiers and earned him his Medal of Honor award after his release from Libby Prison on 5 February 1865.

He subsequently married Fanny Amelia Carpenter with whom he had five children.

He died on 29 August 1928 in East Providence, Rhode Island and is buried at Lakeside-Carpenter Cemetery.

[3] While in command of the provost guard in the village, he saw the Union lines returning before the attack of a greatly superior force of the enemy, mustered his guard, and, without orders, joined in the defense and charged the enemy without support.