William H. Jones (Medal of Honor)

William H. Jones (1842 – December 23, 1911) was an American soldier in the U.S. Army who served with the 2nd U.S. Cavalry during the Indian Wars. He received the Medal of Honor for gallantry in separate battles against the Sioux and the Nez Perce in the Rocky Mountains during the summer of 1877.

William H. Jones
Born1842
Davidson County, North Carolina, U.S.
DiedDecember 23, 1911(1911-12-23) (aged 69)
Efland, North Carolina, U.S.
Place of burial
Efland Methodist Church Cemetery
Service/branchUnited States Army
Years of servicec. 1877 – 1878
RankPrivate
Unit2nd U.S. Cavalry
Battles/warsIndian Wars
Black Hills War
Nez Perce War
AwardsMedal of Honor

Biography

William H. Jones was born in Davidson County, North Carolina in 1842. He later enlisted in the U.S. Army in Louisville, Kentucky and joined the 2nd U.S. Cavalry. Jones later became a regimental farrier and a sergeant. While on frontier duty in the Rocky Mountains in 1877, he was twice cited for gallantry against the Plains Indians in the Montana and the Idaho territories. The first occurred against the Sioux at Little Muddy Creek on May 7, and the second against the Nez Perce at Camas Meadows on August 20, 1877. It was during this last battle that Jones suffered a serious knee injury. For his actions at these engagements, he received the Medal of Honor on February 28, 1878.[1][2][3][4][5][6][7] Jones returned to North Carolina after leaving the military and died in Efland, North Carolina on December 23, 1911, a day before Christmas Eve. He was buried at the Efland Methodist Church Cemetery.[8]

Medal of Honor citation

Rank and organization: Farrier, Company L, 2d U.S. Cavalry. Place and date: At Little Muddy Creek, Mont., 7 May 1877- at Camas Meadows, Idaho, 20 August 1877. Entered service at: Louisville, Ky. Birth. Davidson County, N.C. Date of issue: 28 February 1878.

Citation:

Gallantry in the attack against hostile Sioux Indians on May 7, 1877 at Muddy Creek, Mont., and in the engagement with Nez Perces Indians at Camas Meadows, Idaho, on 20 August 1877 in which he sustained a painful knee wound.[9]

See also

References
  1. Beyer, Walter F. and Oscar Frederick Keydel, ed. Deeds of Valor: From Records in the Archives of the United States Government; how American Heroes Won the Medal of Honor; History of Our Recent Wars and Explorations, from Personal Reminiscences and Records of Officers and Enlisted Men who Were Rewarded by Congress for Most Conspicuous Acts of Bravery on the Battle-field, on the High Seas and in Arctic Explorations. Vol. 2. Detroit: Perrien-Keydel Company, 1906. (pg. 234)
  2. Senate Committee on Veterans Affairs. Medal of Honor recipients, 1863-1973, 93rd Cong., 1st sess. Washington, DC: US Government Printing Office, 1973. (pg. 301)
  3. Hannings, Bud. A Portrait of the Stars and Stripes. Glenside, Pennsylvania: Seniram Publishing, 1988. (pg. 275) ISBN 0-922564-00-0
  4. O'Neal, Bill. Fighting Men of the Indian Wars: A Biographical Encyclopedia of the Mountain Men, Soldiers, Cowboys, and Pioneers Who Took Up Arms During America's Westward Expansion. Stillwater, Oklahoma: Barbed Wire Press, 1991. (pg. 32) ISBN 0-935269-07-X
  5. Greene, Jerome A. Nez Perce Summer, 1877: The US Army and the Nee-Me-Poo Crisis. Helena: Montana Historical Society, 2001. (pg. 161) ISBN 0-917298-82-9
  6. Sterner, C. Douglas (1999). "MOH Citation for William Jones". MOH Recipients: Indian Campaigns. HomeofHeroes.com. Retrieved June 29, 2010.
  7. Army Times Publishing Company. "Military Times Hall of Valor: William H. Jones". Awards and Citations: Medal of Honor. MilitaryTimes.com. Retrieved June 29, 2010.
  8. Sterner, C. Douglas (1999). "Photo of Grave site of MOH Recipient for William Jones". Medal of Honor recipient Gravesites In The State of New York. HomeofHeroes.com. Retrieved June 29, 2010.
  9. "Medal of Honor recipients". Indian War Campaigns. United States Army Center of Military History. June 8, 2009. Archived from the original on August 3, 2013. Retrieved June 29, 2009.
This article is issued from Wikipedia. The text is licensed under Creative Commons - Attribution - Sharealike. Additional terms may apply for the media files.