Henry Newman (Medal of Honor)

Henry Newman (1845 – July 13, 1915) was a German-born soldier in the U.S. Army who served with the 5th U.S. Cavalry during the Indian Wars. In the Apache Wars, he was one of three men who received the Medal of Honor for gallantry against a hostile band of Apache Indians in the Whetstone Mountains of Arizona on July 13, 1872.

Henry Newman
Born1845
Germany
DiedJuly 13, 1915(1915-07-13) (aged 70)
Baltimore, Maryland, United States
Place of burial
Loudon Park National Cemetery
AllegianceUnited States of America
Service/branchUnited States Army
Years of servicec. 1872–1874
RankFirst Sergeant
Unit5th U.S. Cavalry
Battles/warsIndian Wars
Apache Wars
AwardsMedal of Honor

Biography

Henry Newman was born in Germany in 1845. He later emigrated to the United States and enlisted in the U.S. Army in Cincinnati, Ohio. Assigned to frontier duty with the 5th U.S. Cavalry, he took part in the Apache Wars during the early 1870s and eventually rose to the rank of first sergeant.

On July 13, 1872, Newman set off from Camp Crittenden with a small cavalry detachment under the command of Second Lieutenant William P. Hall to pursue an Apache raiding party that had stolen cattle from a local Mexican rancher. They pursued the Apaches fifteen miles into a canyon in the Whetstone Mountains and encountered a much larger force then they had expected. Though they attempted to surprise the Apache, the troopers were spotted and the hostiles charged. The Apache also began dropping boulders from as high as 800 feet, injuring several cavalrymen and their horses. Outnumbered and unable to mount a successful defence as long as the Apache were concealed in the canyon, Hall ordered a retreat. As second-in-command, Newman volunteered to stay behind with Hall and Private Michael Glynn to cover the retreat so the wounded could be taken to safety.

For his actions, Newman received the Medal of Honor for gallantry, along with Privates Glynn and John Nihill, on December 4, 1874.[1][2][3][4][5][6][7][8][9] He died in Baltimore, Maryland on July 13, 1915 and was buried in Loudon Park National Cemetery.

Medal of Honor citation

Rank and organization: First Sergeant, Company F, 5th U.S. Cavalry. Place and date: At Whetstone Mountains, Ariz., 13 July 1872. Entered service at: ------. Birth: Germany. Date of issue: 4 December 1874.

Citation:

He and 2 companions covered the withdrawal of wounded comrades from the fire of an Apache band well concealed among rocks.[10]

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. 165-166)
  2. Senate Committee on Veterans Affairs. Medal of Honor recipients, 1863-1973, 93rd Cong., 1st sess. Washington, DC: US Government Printing Office, 1973.
  3. Manning, Robert, ed. Above and Beyond: A History of the Medal of Honor from the Civil War to Vietnam. Boston: Boston Publishing Company, 1985. ISBN 0-939526-19-0
  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. 27) ISBN 0-935269-07-X
  5. Wilson, D. Ray. Terror on the Plains: A Clash of Cultures. Dundee, Illinois: Crossroads Communications, 1999. (pg. 239) ISBN 0-916445-47-X
  6. Yenne, Bill. Indian Wars: The Campaign for the American West. Yardley, Pennsylvania: Westholme Publishing, 2006. (pg. 144) ISBN 1-59416-016-3
  7. Nunnally, Michael L. American Indian Wars: A Chronology of Confrontations Between Native Peoples and Settlers and the United States Military, 1500s-1901. Jefferson, North Carolina: McFarland, 2007. (pg. 128) ISBN 0-7864-2936-4
  8. Sterner, C. Douglas (1999). "MOH Citation for Henry Newman". MOH Recipients: Indian Campaigns. HomeofHeroes.com. Retrieved June 24, 2010.
  9. Army Times Publishing Company. "Military Times Hall of Valor: Henry Newman". Awards and Citations: Medal of Honor. MilitaryTimes.com. Retrieved June 24, 2010.
  10. "Medal of Honor recipients". Indian War Campaigns. United States Army Center of Military History. June 8, 2009. Retrieved June 29, 2009.

Further reading
  • Anderson, Harry H., ed. Indian Campaigns: Sketches of Cavalry Service in Arizona and on the Northern Plains. Collins, Colorado: Old Army Press, 1984. ISBN 0-88342-063-5
  • Konstantin, Phil. This Day in North American Indian History: Important Dates in the History of North America's Native Peoples for Every Calendar Day. New York: Da Capo Press, 2002. ISBN 0-306-81170-7
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