Indian Wars Medal of Honor Recipient. He received the award for his actions as a captain with Company C, 5th US Infantry Regiment, US Army, on January 8, 1877, during a hostile engagement with the Lakota Sioux and Northern Cheyenne Indians at the Battle of Wolf Mountain in Montana Territory. An Irish immigrant, he joined the US Army in 1861 during the American Civil War and was commissioned a 2nd lieutenant with the 5th US Infantry and assigned to the Western Frontier. He was promoted to the rank of captain and in 1866 he was assigned to Kansas and spent two years there before being assigned in December 1868 to bring in the bodies of the soldiers killed during the Battle of Beecher Island in Colorado. From 1871 to 1877 he participated in several other engagements with the Indians, including the Red River Campaign (1874 to 1875), the Black Hills War (1876), and the Battle of Wolf Mountain (1877), for which he was awarded the Medal of Honor and brevetted to the rank of major. Later that year, he escorted Chief Joseph and other Nez Perce Indians to Fort Buford, Dakota Territory. During the early 1880s, he was stationed at Fort Snelling, Minnesota and Fort Keough, Montana and guarded construction parties of the Northern Pacific Railroad. He retired at the rank of lieutenant colonel in March 1891 and died four years later. His Medal of Honor citation reads: "For conspicuous gallantry in leading his command against greatly superior numbers of hostile Indians, strongly entrenched".
Indian Wars Medal of Honor Recipient. He received the award for his actions as a captain with Company C, 5th US Infantry Regiment, US Army, on January 8, 1877, during a hostile engagement with the Lakota Sioux and Northern Cheyenne Indians at the Battle of Wolf Mountain in Montana Territory. An Irish immigrant, he joined the US Army in 1861 during the American Civil War and was commissioned a 2nd lieutenant with the 5th US Infantry and assigned to the Western Frontier. He was promoted to the rank of captain and in 1866 he was assigned to Kansas and spent two years there before being assigned in December 1868 to bring in the bodies of the soldiers killed during the Battle of Beecher Island in Colorado. From 1871 to 1877 he participated in several other engagements with the Indians, including the Red River Campaign (1874 to 1875), the Black Hills War (1876), and the Battle of Wolf Mountain (1877), for which he was awarded the Medal of Honor and brevetted to the rank of major. Later that year, he escorted Chief Joseph and other Nez Perce Indians to Fort Buford, Dakota Territory. During the early 1880s, he was stationed at Fort Snelling, Minnesota and Fort Keough, Montana and guarded construction parties of the Northern Pacific Railroad. He retired at the rank of lieutenant colonel in March 1891 and died four years later. His Medal of Honor citation reads: "For conspicuous gallantry in leading his command against greatly superior numbers of hostile Indians, strongly entrenched".
Bio by: William Bjornstad
Inscription
MEDAL OF HONOR
COL 5 US INF
INDIAN WARS
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