https://thisdayinusmilhist.wordpress.com/2005/07/01/july-1/1 July
1656 – The 1st Quakers, Mary Fisher and Ann Austin, arrived in Boston and were promptly arrested.
1776 – The Continental Congress, sitting as a committee, met on July 1, 1776, to debate a resolution submitted by Virginia delegate Richard Henry Lee on June 7. The resolution stated that the United Colonies “are, and of right ought to be, free and independent States.” The committee voted for the motion and, on July 2 in formal session took the final vote for independence.
1777 – British troops departed from their base at the Bouquet river to head toward Ticonderoga, New York.
1797 – Congress passed “An Act providing a Naval Armament,” empowered the President to “cause the said revenue cutters to be employed to defend the seacoast and to repel any hostility to their vessels and commerce, within their jurisdiction, having due regard to the duty of said cutters in the protection of the revenue.” The act also increased the complements of the cutters from ten men to a number “not exceeding 30 marines and seamen.”
1800 – First convoy duty; USS Essex escorts convoy of merchant ships from East Indies to U.S.
1801 – U.S. squadron under Commodore Dale enters Mediterranean to strike Barbary Pirates.
1850 – Naval School at Annapolis renamed Naval Academy.
1851 – Naval Academy adopts four year course of study.
1861 – The US War Department decreed that Kansas and Tennessee were to be canvassed for volunteers.
1862 – Congress gave the green light to the tax-centric Revenue Act. The legislation, which was soon signed into law by President Abraham Lincoln, imposed a three-percent tax on people with incomes between $600 to $10,000; and also called for a five-percent levy on people with incomes reaching over $10,000. However, the Revenue Act was perhaps more notable for creating the Bureau of Internal Revenue, a government agency which was charged with collecting the revenue generated by the new taxes. Though the Revenue Act and its attendant package of taxes were allowed to lapse into legislative oblivion after the Civil War, the Bureau of Internal Revenue eventually came back to haunt Americaýs taxpaying citizens in 1913, when the Sixteenth Amendment was added to the Constitution. Along with sanctioning the income tax, the amendment paved the path for the opening of the Internal Revenue Service, which, in its role as the official clearing house for the nationýs taxes, proved to be the bureaucratic progeny of the Internal Revenue Service
1862 – The US Congress outlawed polygamy for the 1st time. The Morrill Anti-Bigamy Act, signed by Pres. Lincoln, made polygamy illegal in American territories. It led to the prosecution of over 1300 Mormons. It also granted large tracts of public land to the states with the directive to sell for the support of institutions teaching the mechanical and agricultural arts. It also obligated state male university students to military training. The education initiative resulted in 68 land-grant colleges.
1862 – In day 7 of the 7 Days Battle Union artillery stopped a Confederate attack at Malvern Hill, Virginia. Casualties totaled: US 15,249 and CS 17,583.
1863 – The largest military conflict in North American history begins this day when Union and Confederate forces collide at Gettysburg. The epic battle lasted three days and resulted in a retreat to Virginia by Robert E. Lee’s Army of Northern Virginia. Two months prior to Gettysburg, Lee had dealt a stunning defeat to the Army of the Potomac at Chancellorsville. He then made plans for a Northern invasion in order to relieve pressure on war-weary Virginia and to seize the initiative from the Yankees. His army, numbering about 80,000, began moving on June 3. The Army of the Potomac, commanded by Joseph Hooker and numbering just under 100,000, began moving shortly thereafter, staying between Lee and Washington, D.C. But on June 28, frustrated by the Lincoln administration’s restrictions on his autonomy as commander, Hooker resigned and was replaced by George G. Meade. Meade took command of the Army of the Potomac as Lee’s army moved into Pennsylvania. On the morning of July 1, advance units of the forces came into contact with one another just outside of Gettysburg. The sound of battle attracted other units, and by noon the conflict was raging. During the first hours of battle, Union General John Reynolds was killed, and the Yankees found that they were outnumbered. The battle lines ran around the northwestern rim of Gettysburg. The Confederates applied pressure all along the Union front, and they slowly drove the Yankees through the town. By evening, the Federal troops rallied on high ground on the southeastern edge of Gettysburg. As more troops arrived, Meade’s army formed a three-mile long, fishhook-shaped line running from Culp’s Hill on the right flank, along Cemetery Hill and Cemetery Ridge, to the base of Little Round Top. The Confederates held Gettysburg, and stretched along a six-mile arc around the Union position. For the next two days, Lee would batter each end of the Union position, and on July 3, he would launch Pickett’s charge against the Union center.
1863 – John Fulton Reynolds (42), Union general, died in battle at Gettysburg.
1864 – Battle of Petersburg, VA, began.
1898 – As part of their campaign to capture Spanish-held Santiago de Cuba on the southern coast of Cuba, the U.S. Army Fifth Corps engages Spanish forces at El Caney and San Juan Hill. In May 1898, one month after the outbreak of the Spanish-American War, a Spanish fleet docked in the Santiago de Cuba harbor after racing across the Atlantic from Spain. A superior U.S. naval force arrived soon after and blockaded the harbor entrance. In June, the U.S. Army Fifth Corps landed on Cuba with the aim of marching to Santiago and launching a coordinated land and sea assault on the Spanish stronghold. Included among the U.S. ground troops were the Theodore Roosevelt-led “Rough Riders,” a collection of Western cowboys and Eastern blue bloods officially known as the First U.S. Voluntary Cavalry. The U.S. Army Fifth Corps fought its way to Santiago’s outer defenses, and on July 1 U.S. General William Shafter ordered an attack on the village of El Caney and San Juan Hill. Shafter hoped to capture El Caney before besieging the fortified heights of San Juan Hill, but the 500 Spanish defenders of the village put up a fierce resistance and held off 10 times their number for most of the day. Although El Caney was not secure, some 8,000 Americans pressed forward toward San Juan Hill. Hundreds fell under Spanish gunfire before reaching the base of the heights, where the force split up into two flanks to take San Juan Hill and Kettle Hill. The Rough Riders were among the troops in the right flank attacking Kettle Hill. When the order was given by Lieutenant John Miley that “the heights must be taken at all hazards,” the Rough Riders, who had been forced to leave their horses behind because of transportation difficulties, led the charge up the hills. The Rough Riders and the black soldiers of the 9th and 10th Cavalry regiments were the first up Kettle Hill, and San Juan Hill was taken soon after. From the crest, the Americans found themselves overlooking Santiago, and the next day they began a siege of the city. On July 3, the Spanish fleet was destroyed off Santiago by U.S. warships under Admiral William Sampson, and on July 17 the Spanish surrendered the city–and thus Cuba–to the Americans.
1907 – World’s 1st air force was established as part of the US Army.
1911 – Trial of first Navy aircraft, Curtiss A-1. The designer, Glenn Curtiss, makes first flight in Navy’s first aircraft, A-1, at Lake Keuka, NY, then prepares LT Theodore G. Ellyson, the first naval aviator, for his two solo flights in A-1.
1916 – Establishment of informal school for officers assigned to submarines at New London, CT.
1917 – Race riots in East St. Louis, Illinois, and 40 to 200 were reported killed.
1918 – USS Covington hit without warning by two torpedoes from German Submarine U-86 and sank the next day.
1921 – The Coast Guard’s first air station, located at Morehead City, North Carolina, was closed due to a lack of funding.
1939 – Lighthouse Service of Department of Commerce transferred to Coast Guard under President Franklin Roosevelt’s Reorganization Plan No. 11. Under the President’s Reorganization Plan No. 11, made effective this date by Public Resolution No. 20, approved 7 June 1939, it was provided “that the Bureau of Lighthouses in the Department of Commerce and its functions be transferred to and consolidated with and administered as a part of the Coast Guard. This consolidation made in the interest of efficiency and economy, will result in the transfer to and consolidation with the Coast Guard of the system of approximately 30,000 aids to navigation (including light vessels and lighthouses) maintained by the Lighthouse Service on the sea and lake coasts of the United States, on the rivers of the United States, and on the coasts of all other territory under the jurisdiction of the United States with the exception of the Philippine Island and Panama Canal proper.” Plans were put into effect, “Providing for a complete integration with the Coast Guard of the personnel of the Lighthouse Service numbering about 5,200, together with the auxiliary organization of 64 buoy tenders, 30 depots, and 17 district offices.”
1940 – Roosevelt signs a further Navy bill providing for the construction of 45 more ships and providing $550,000,000 to finance these and other projects.
1941 – Aircraft from the United States Navy start antisubmarine patrols from bases in Newfoundland.
1941 – Commercial black and white television broadcasting began in the US.
1943 – “Pay-as-you-go” income tax withholding began.
1944 – Elements of the US 5th Army capture Cecina on the west coast while Pomerance falls, further inland, in the advance to Volterra.
1944 – Delegates from 44 countries began meeting at Bretton Woods, N.H., where they agreed to establish the International Monetary Fund and the World Bank. The US hosted an international conference at Bretton Woods, N.H., to deal with international monetary and financial problems. The talks resulted in the creation of the IMF, International Monetary Fund, and the World Bank in 1945. In 1997 Catherine Caufield wrote “Masters of Illusion: The World Bank and the Poverty of Nations.” The Bretton Woods institutions also include the United nations and the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (renamed the World Trade organization). The agreement was a gold exchange standard and only the US was required to convert its currency into gold at a fixed rate, and only foreign central banks were allowed the privilege of redemption.
1945 – Some 550 B-29 Superfortress bombers — the greatest number yet to be engaged — drop 4000 tons of incendiary bombs on the Kure naval base, Shimonoseki, Ube and Kumanoto, on western Kyushu.
1946 – As a final step in the return of the Coast Guard to the Treasury Department from wartime operation under the Navy Department, the Navy directional control of the following Coast Guard functions was terminated: search and rescue functions, maintenance and operation of ocean weather stations and air-sea navigational aids in the Atlantic, continental United States, Alaska, and Pacific east of Pearl Harbor.
1946 – The United States exploded a 20-kiloton atomic bomb near Bikini Atoll in the Marshall Islands in the Pacific Ocean. The energy released by any one of the ten or so major earthquakes every year is about 1,000 times as much as the Bikini atomic bomb.
1947 – State Department official George Kennan, using the pseudonym “Mr. X,” publishes an article entitled “The Sources of Soviet Conduct” in the July edition of Foreign Affairs. The article focused on Kennan’s call for a policy of containment toward the Soviet Union and established the foundation for much of America’s early Cold War foreign policy. In February 1946, Kennan, then serving as the U.S. charge d’affaires in Moscow, wrote his famous “long telegram” to the Department of State. In the missive, he condemned the communist leadership of the Soviet Union and called on the United States to forcefully resist Russian expansion. Encouraged by friends and colleagues, Kennan refined the telegram into an article, “The Sources of Soviet Conduct,” and secured its publication in the July edition of Foreign Affairs. Kennan signed the article “Mr. X” to avoid any charge that he was presenting official U.S. government policy, but nearly everyone in the Department of State and White House recognized the piece as Kennan’s work. In the article, Kennan explained that the Soviet Union’s leaders were determined to spread the communist doctrine around the world, but were also extremely patient and pragmatic in pursuing such expansion. In the “face of superior force,” Kennan said, the Russians would retreat and wait for a more propitious moment. The West, however, should not be lulled into complacency by temporary Soviet setbacks. Soviet foreign policy, Kennan claimed, “is a fluid stream which moves constantly, wherever it is permitted to move, toward a given goal.” In terms of U.S. foreign policy, Kennan’s advice was clear: “The main element of any United States policy toward the Soviet Union must be that of a long-term, patient but firm and vigilant containment of Russian expansive tendencies.” Kennan’s article created a sensation in the United States, and the term “containment” instantly entered the Cold War lexicon. The administration of President Harry S. Truman embraced Kennan’s philosophy, and in the next few years attempted to “contain” Soviet expansion through a variety of programs, including the establishment of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) in 1949. Kennan’s star rose quickly in the Department of State and in 1952 he was named U.S. ambassador to Russia. By the 1960s, with the United States hopelessly mired in the Vietnam War, Kennan began to question some of his own basic assumptions in the “Mr. X” article and became a vocal critic of U.S. involvement in Vietnam. In particular, he criticized U.S. policymakers during the 1950s and 1960s for putting too much emphasis on the military containment of the Soviet Union, rather than on political and economic programs.
1950 – Task Force Smith, two companies of the 24th Infantry Division’s 21st Infantry Regiment, commanded by Lieutenant Colonel Charles B. Smith and the first U.S. combat unit in Korea, arrived at Pusan. Major General William F. Dean, the 24th Infantry Division commander, was named commander of all U.S. forces in Korea.
1951 – North Korean leader Kim Il Sung and Peng Teh-huai, commander of the Chinese “Volunteers,” agreed to begin armistice discussions.
1956 – The Highway Revenue Act of 1956 was put into effect by Congress, outlining a policy of taxation with the aim of creating a fund for the construction of over 42,500 miles of interstate highways over a period of 13 years. The push for a national highway system began many years earlier, when the privately funded construction of the Lincoln Highway begun in 1919. President Franklin D. Roosevelt (1933-1945) did much to set into motion plans for a federally funded highway system, but his efforts were halted by the outbreak of World War II. With the end of the war came America’s industrial boom and a massive increase in automobile registration. Dwight D. Eisenhower, elected president in 1952, had been a supporter of a federally funded highway system ever since, as an Army Lieutenant in 1919, he led a military convoy from San Francisco to New York. His travels through Germany during World War II only increased his desire to replicate Germany’s autobahn system. Eisenhower’s 1954 State of the Union address made clear his intentions to follow through on his interest. He declared the need to “protect the vital interests of every citizen in a safe, adequate highway system.” It wasn’t until 1956 that Eisenhower saw his vision pass through Congress. The scale of the plan was breathtaking: At a time when the total federal budget approached $71 billion, Eisenhower’s plan called for $50 billion over 13 years for highways. To pay for the project a system of taxes, relying heavily on the taxation of gasoline, was implemented. Legislation has extended the Interstate Highway Revenue Act three times. Today consumers pay 18.3¢ per gallon on gasoline. Eisenhower thought of the Federal Interstate System as his greatest achievement. Today, revisionists question the solutions offered by our massive labyrinth of highways. Undoubtedly the interstate system changed America and made it what it is today, with suburbs and “edge cities” springing up across the country. Employment increased, as well as the U.S. gross national product. Still, both state and federal governments struggle to appropriate the funds to expand our national road network and meet the demand of the ever-growing population of car owners. Many economists subscribe to Helen Levitt’s theory that “congestion rises to meet road capacity,” and anti-road activists are citing the loss of productive farmland, the demise of small business, the destruction of the environment, and the “urbanization” of American society. Truly, the grass is always greener on the other side of the highway.
1958 – The new Atlantic merchant vessel [known by the acronym AMVER] position reporting program was established. It was aimed at encouraging domestic and foreign merchant vessels to send voluntary position reports and navigational data to U.S. Coast Guard shore based radio stations and ocean station vessels. Relayed to a ships’ plot center in New York and processed by machine, these data provided updated position information for U.S. Coast Guard rescue coordination centers. The centers could then direct only those vessels which would be of effective aid to craft or persons in distress. This diversion of all merchant ships in a large area became unnecessary.
1960 – USSR shot down a US RB-47 reconnaissance plane.
1962 – Intelligence has been an essential element of Army operations during war as well as during periods of peace. In the past, requirements were met by personnel from the Army Intelligence and Army Security Reserve branches, two-year obligated tour officers, one-tour levies on the various branches, and Regular Army officers in the specialization programs. To meet the Army’s increased requirement for national and tactical intelligence, an Intelligence and Security Branch was established in the Army effective July 1, 1962, by General Orders No. 38, July 3, 1962. On July 1, 1967, the branch was redesignated as Military Intelligence.
1965 – Undersecretary of State George Ball submits a memo to President Lyndon B. Johnson titled “A Compromise Solution for South Vietnam.” It began bluntly: “The South Vietnamese are losing the war to the Viet Cong. No one can assure you that we can beat the Viet Cong, or even force them to the conference table on our terms, no matter how many hundred thousand white, foreign (U.S.) troops we deploy.” Ball advised that the United States not commit any more troops, restrict the combat role of those already in place, and seek to negotiate a way out of the war. As Ball was submitting his memo, the U.S. air base at Da Nang came under attack by the Viet Cong for the first time. An enemy demolition team infiltrated the airfield and destroyed three planes and damaged three others. One U.S. airman was killed and three U.S. Marines were wounded. The attack on Da Nang, the increased aggressiveness of the Viet Cong, and the weakness of the Saigon regime convinced Johnson that he had to do something to stop the communists or they would soon take over South Vietnam. While Ball recommended a negotiated settlement, Secretary of Defense Robert McNamara urged the president to “expand promptly and substantially” the U.S. military presence in South Vietnam. Johnson, not wanting to lose South Vietnam to the communists, ultimately accepted McNamara’s recommendation. On July 22, he authorized a total of 44 U.S. battalions for commitment in South Vietnam, a decision that led to a massive escalation of the war. There were less than ten U.S. Army and Marine battalions in South Vietnam at this time. Eventually there would be more than 540,000 U.S. troops in South Vietnam.
1966 – The U.S. Marines launched Operation Holt in an attempt to finish off a Vietcong battalion in Thua Thien Province in Vietnam.
1966 – U.S. Air Force and Navy jets carry out a series of raids on fuel installations in the Hanoi-Haiphong area. The Dong Nam fuel dump, 15 miles northeast of Hanoi, with 9 percent of North Vietnam’s storage capacity, was struck on this day. The Do Son petroleum installation, 12 miles southeast of Haiphong, would be attacked on July 3. The raids continued for two more days, as petroleum facilities near Haiphong, Thanh Hoa, and Vinh were bombed, and fuel tanks in the Hanoi area were hit. These raids were part of Operation Rolling Thunder, which had begun in March 1965. The attacks on the North Vietnamese fuel facilities represented a new level of bombing, since these sites had been previously off limits. However, the raids did not have a lasting impact because China and the Soviet Union replaced the destroyed petroleum assets fairly quickly. China reacted to these events by calling the bombings “barbarous and wanton acts that have further freed us from any bounds of restrictions in helping North Vietnam.” The World Council of Churches in Geneva sent a cable to President Lyndon B. Johnson saying that the latest bombing of North Vietnam was causing a “widespread reaction” of “resentment and alarm” among many Christians. Indian mobs protested the air raids on the Hanoi-Haiphong area with violent anti-American demonstrations in Delhi and several other cities.
1968 – The United States, Britain, the Soviet Union and 58 other nations signed the Nuclear Nonproliferation Treaty.
1972 – Date of rank of Rear Admiral Samuel Lee Gravely, Jr., who was first U.S. Navy Admiral of African-American descent.
1991 – A 14th Coast Guard District LEDET, all crewmen from the CGC Rush, deployed on board the U.S. Navy’s USS Ingersoll, made history when they seized the St. Vincent-registered M/V Lucky Star for carrying 70 tons of hashish; the largest hashish bust in Coast Guard history to date. The team, led by LTJG Mark Eyler, made the bust 600 miles west of Midway Island.
1991 – A high personnel retention level led the Commandant, ADM J. William Kime, to begin implementing a high-year tenure program, otherwise known as an “up or out” policy to “improve personnel flow and opportunities for advancement.” Two significant points of the program were that they limited enlisted careers to 30 years of active service and established “professional growth points” for paygrades E-4 through E-9, which had to be attained in order to remain on active duty. Up until this time, enlisted members could remain on active duty until age 62 — the only U.S. military work force with that option.
1992 – UNSCOM begins the destruction of large quantities of Iraqi chemical weapons and production facilities.
1993 – The space shuttle Endeavour returned from a 10-day mission.
1995 – As a result of UNSCOM’s investigations, Iraq admits for the first time the existence of an offensive biological weapons program, but denies weaponisation.
1996 – The United States rejects an Iraqi plan for distributing food and medicine under United Nations Security Council Resolution 986. It would allow Saddam Hussein’s government to evade certain sanctions as well as to give it control over distribution of supplies to separatist Kurds in northern Iraq.
1996 – Twelve members of an Arizona anti-government group, the Viper Militia, were charged with plotting to blow up government buildings. The group was infiltrated by Drew Nolan, an agent for the Federal Bureau of Alcohol Tobacco and Firearms (ATF).
2001 – In China parts of the US spy plane were flown out from Hainan Island.
2002 – Jordan reported that 11 people, including a Palestinian-Jordanian who fled the American bombing on Osama bin Laden’s stronghold in Afghanistan, have been detained in connection with an alleged plot to attack American targets.
2003 – The US planned to suspend $48 million in aid to some 35 countries for failing to meet this day’s deadline for exempting Americans from prosecution before the new UN int’l. war crimes tribunal.
2004 – The US Coast Guard began boarding foreign vessels as int’l. security rules went into effect.
2004 – Historic Afghan elections scheduled for September were delayed because of wrangling among officials and political parties.
2004 – A defiant Saddam Hussein rejected charges of war crimes and genocide in a court appearance, telling a judge “this is all theater, the real criminal is Bush.”
2004 – In Iraq US jets pounded a suspected safehouse of terrorist Abu Musab al-Zarqawi in Fallujah.
2006 – A Web-posted message purportedly written by Osama bin Laden urged Somalis to build an Islamic state in the country and warned western states that his al-Qaeda network would fight against them if they intervened there
Congressional Medal of Honor Citations for Actions Taken This Day
BRONNER, AUGUST F.
Rank and organization: Private, Company C, 1st New York Artillery. Place and date: At White Oak Swamp, Va., 30 June 1862. At Malvern Hill, Va., 1 July 1862. Entered service at: ——. Birth: Germany. Date of issue: Unknown. Citation: Continued to fight after being severely wounded.
COATES, JEFFERSON
Rank and organization: Sergeant, Company H, 7th Wisconsin Infantry. Place and date: At Gettysburg, Pa., 1 July 1863. Entered service at: Boscobel, Wis. Birth: Grant County, Wis. Date of issue: 29 June 1866. Citation: Unsurpassed courage in battle, where he had both eyes shot out.
GILLIGAN, EDWARD L.
Rank and organization: First Sergeant, Company E, 88th Pennsylvania Infantry. Place and date: At Gettysburg, Pa., 1 July 1863. Entered service at: Philadelphia, Pa. Birth: Philadelphia, Pa. Date of issue: 30 April 1892. Citation: Assisted in the capture of a Confederate flag by knocking down the color sergeant.
HUIDEKOPER, HENRY S.
Rank and organization: Lieutenant Colonel, 150th Pennsylvania Infantry. Place and date: At Gettysburg, Pa., 1 July 1863. Entered service at: Philadelphia, Pa. Born: 17 July 1839, Meadville, Pa. Date of issue: 27 May 1905. Citation: While engaged in repelling an attack of the enemy, received a severe wound of the right arm, but instead of retiring remained at the front in command of the regiment.
IRSCH, FRANCIS
Rank and organization: Captain, Company D, 45th New York Infantry. Place and date: At Gettysburg, Pa., 1 July 1863. Entered service at: New York, N.Y. Birth:——. Date of issue: 27 May 1892. Citation: Gallantry in flanking the enemy and capturing a number of prisoners and in holding a part of the town against heavy odds while the Army was rallying on Cemetery Hill.
OSBORNE, WILLIAM H.
Rank and organization: Private, Company C, 29th Massachusetts Infantry. Place and date: At Malvern Hill, Va., 1 July 1862. Entered service at:——. Birth: Scituate, Mass. Date of issue: 1 April 1898. Citation: Although wounded and carried to the rear, he secured a rifle and voluntarily returned to the front, where, failing to find his own regiment, he joined another and fought with it until again severely wounded and taken prisoner.
RAFFERTY, PETER
Rank and organization: Private, Company B, 69th New York Infantry. Place and date: At Malvern Hill, Va., 1 July 1862. Entered service at: New York, N.Y. Birth: Ireland. Date of issue: 2 August 1897. Citation: Having been wounded and directed to the rear, declined to go, but continued in action, receiving several additional wounds, which resulted in his capture by the enemy and his total disability for military service.
REISINGER, J. MONROE
Rank and organization: Corporal, Company H, 150th Pennsylvania Infantry. Place and date: At Gettysburg, Pa., 1 July 1863. Entered service at: Meadville, Pa. Birth: Beaver County, Pa. Date of issue: Unknown. Citation: Specially brave and meritorious conduct in the face of the enemy. Awarded under Act of Congress, January 25, 1907.
RIPLEY, WILLIAM Y. W.
Rank and organization: Lieutenant Colonel, 1st U.S. Sharpshooters. Place and date: At Malvern Hill, Va., 1 July 1862. Entered service at: Rutland, Vt. Birth:——. Date of issue: 11 March 1893. Citation: At a critical moment brought up two regiments, which he led against the enemy himself, being severely wounded.
RUTTER, JAMES M.
Rank and organization: Sergeant, Company C, 143d Pennsylvania Infantry. Place and date: At Gettysburg, Pa., 1 July 1863. Entered service at: ——. Birth: Wilkes_Barre, Pa. Date of issue: 30 October 1896. Citation: At great risk of his life went to the assistance of a wounded comrade, and while under fire removed him to a place of safety.
SELLERS, ALFRED J.
Rank and organization: Major, 90th Pennsylvania Infantry. Place and date: At Gettysburg, Pa., 1 July 1863. Entered service at: Pennsylvania. Born: 2 March 1836, Plumsteadville, Bucks County, Pa. Date of issue: 21 July 1894. Citation: Voluntarily led the regiment under a withering fire to a position from which the enemy was repulsed.
TOBIN, JOHN M.
Rank and organization: First Lieutenant and Adjutant, 9th Massachusetts Infantry. Place and date: At Malvern Hill, Va., 1 July 1862. Entered service at: Boston, Mass. Birth: Ireland. Date of issue: 11 March 1896. Citation: Voluntarily took command of the 9th Massachusetts while adjutant, bravely fighting from 3 p.m. until dusk, rallying and re_forming the regiment under fire; twice picked up the regimental flag, the color bearer having been shot down, and placed it in worthy hands.
WALLER, FRANCIS A.
Rank and organization: Corporal, Company I, 6th Wisconsin Infantry. Place and date: At Gettysburg, Pa., 1 July 1863. Entered service at: DeSoto, Vernon County, Wis. Birth: Gurney, Ohio. Date of issue: 1 December 1864. Citation: Capture of flag of 2d Mississippi Infantry (C.S.A.).
AHERN, WILLIAM
Rank and organization: Watertender, U.S. Navy. Born: 1861, Ireland. Accredited to: New York. G.O. No.: 482, 1 November 1897. Citation: On board the U.S.S. Puritan at the time of the collapse of one of the crown sheets of boiler E of that vessel, 1 July 1897. Wrapped in wet cloths to protect his face and arms, Ahern entered the fireroom, crawled over the tops of the boilers and closed the auxiliary stop valve, disconnecting boiler E and removing the danger of disabling the other boilers.
WILSON, AUGUST
Rank and organization: Boilermaker, U.S. Navy. Born: 1 March 1864, Danzig, Germany. Accredited to: New York. G.O. No.. 482, November 1897. Citation: For gallant conduct while serving on board the U.S.S. Puritan and at the time of the collapse of one of the crown sheets of boiler E on that vessel, 1 July 1897. Wrapping wet cloths about his face and arms, Wilson entered the fireroom and opened the safety valve, thus removing the danger of disabling the other boilers.
BAKER, EDWARD L., JR.
Rank and organization: Sergeant Major, 10th U.S. Cavalry. Place and date: At Santiago, Cuba, 1 July 1898. Entered service at:______. Birth: Laramie County, Wyo. Date of issue: 3 July 1902. Citation: Left cover and, under fire, rescued a wounded comrade from drowning.
BERG, GEORGE
Rank and organization: Private, Company C, 17th U.S. Infantry. Place and date: At El Caney, Cuba, 1 July 1898. Entered service at: ______. Birth: Wayne County, Ill. Date of issue: Unknown. Citation: Gallantly assisted in the rescue of the wounded from in front of the lines and while under heavy fire of the enemy.
BROOKIN, OSCAR
Rank and organization: Private, Company C, 17th U.S. Infantry. Place and date: At El Caney, Cuba, 1 July 1898. Entered service at: Green County, Ohio. Birth: Byron, Wis. Date of issue: 21 June 1899. Citation: Gallantly assisted in the rescue of the wounded from in front of the lines and under heavy fire from the enemy.
BUZZARD, ULYSSES G.
Rank and organization: Corporal, Company C, 17th U.S. Infantry. Place and date: At El Caney, Cuba, 1 July 1898. Entered service at: ______. Birth: Armstrong, Pa. Date of issue: 24 June 1899. Citation: Gallantly assisted in the rescue of the wounded from in front of the lines and under heavy fire from the enemy.
CANTRELL, CHARLES P.
Rank and organization: Private, Company F, 10th U.S. Infantry. Place and date: At Santiago, Cuba, 1 July 1898. Entered service at: Nashville, Tenn. Born: 13 February 1874, Smithville, Tenn. Date of issue: 22 June 1899. Citation: Gallantly assisted in the rescue of the wounded from in front of the lines and under heavy fire from the enemy.
CUMMINS, ANDREW J.
Rank and organization: Sergeant, Company F, 10th U.S. Infantry. Place and date: At Santiago, Cuba, 1 July 1898. Entered service at: ______. Birth: Alexandria, Ind. Date of issue: 22 June 1899. Citation: Gallantly assisted in the rescue of the wounded from in front of the lines and under heavy fire of the enemy.
DE SWAN, JOHN F.
Rank and organization: Private, Company H, 21st U.S. Infantry. Place and date: At Santiago, Cuba, 1 July 1898. Entered service at: Philadelphia, Pa. Birth: Philadelphia, Pa. Date of issue: 22 June 1899. Citation: Gallantly assisted in the rescue of the wounded from in front of the lines and under heavy fire from the enemy.
DOHERTY, THOMAS M.
Rank and organization: Corporal, Company H, 21st U.S. Infantry. Place and date: At Santiago, Cuba, 1 July 1898. Entered service at: Newcastle, Maine. Birth: Ireland. Date of issue: 22 June 1899. Citation: Gallantly assisted in the rescue of the wounded from in front of the lines and while under heavy fire from the enemy.
FOURNIA, FRANK O.
Rank and organization: Private, Company H, 21st U.S. Infantry. Place and date: At Santiago, Cuba, 1 July 1898. Entered service at: Plattsburg, N.Y. Birth: Rome, N.Y. Date of issue: 22 June 1899. Citation: Gallantly assisted in the rescue of the wounded from in front of the lines and while under heavy fire of the enemy.
GRAVES, THOMAS J.
Rank and organization: Private, Company C, 17th U.S. Infantry. Place and date: At El Caney, Cuba, 1 July 1898. Entered service at: Millville, Ind. Birth: Milton, Ind. Date of issue: 22 June 1899. Citation: Gallantly assisted in the rescue of the wounded from in front of the lines and under heavy fire from the enemy.
HARDAWAY, BENJAMIN F.
Rank and organization: First Lieutenant, 17th U .S. Infantry. Place and date: At El Caney, Cuba, 1 July 1898. Entered service at:______. Birth: Benleyville, Ky. Date of issue: 21 June 1899. Citation: Gallantly assisted in the rescue of the wounded from in front of the lines and under heavy fire from the enemy.
KELLER, WILLIAM
Rank and organization: Private, Company F, 10th U.S. Infantry. Place and date: At Santiago de Cuba, 1 July 1898. Entered service at: Buffalo, N.Y. Birth: Buffalo, N.Y. Date of issue: 22 June 1899. Citation: Gallantly assisted in the rescue of the wounded from in front of the lines and under heavy fire of the enemy.
KELLY, THOMAS
Rank and organization: Private, Company H, 21st U.S. Infantry. Place and date: At Santiago de Cuba, 1 July 1898. Entered service at: New York, N.Y. Birth: Ireland. Date of issue: 22 June 1899. Citation: Gallantly assisted in the rescue of the wounded from in front of the lines and while under heavy fire from the enemy.
MILLS, ALBERT L.
Rank and organization: Captain and Assistant Adjutant General, U.S. Volunteers. Place and date: Near Santiago, Cuba, 1 July 1898. Entered service at: New York, N.Y. Birth: New York, N.Y. Date of issue: 9 July 1902. Citation: Distinguished gallantry in encouraging those near him by his bravery and coolness after being shot through the head and entirely without sight.
NASH, JAMES J.
Rank and organization: Private, Company F, 10th U.S. Infantry. Place and date: At Santiago, Cuba, 1 July 1898. Entered service at: Louisville, Ky. Birth: Louisville, Ky. Date of issue: 22 June 1899. Citation: Gallantly assisted in the rescue of the wounded from in front of the lines and under heavy fire from the enemy.
NEE, GEORGE H.
Rank and organization: Private, Company H, 21st U.S. Infantry. Place and date: At Santiago, Cuba, 1 July 1898. Entered service at: Boston, Mass. Birth: Boston, Mass. Date of issue: 22 June 1899. Citation: Gallantly assisted in the rescue of the wounded from in front of the lines and under heavy fire from the enemy.
PFISTERER, HERMAN
Rank and organization: Musician, Company H, 21st U.S. Infantry. Place and date: At Santiago, Cuba, 1 July 1898. Entered service at New York, N.Y. Birth: Brooklyn, N.Y. Date of issue: 22 June 1899 Citation: Gallantly assisted in the rescue of the wounded from in front of the lines and under heavy fire from the enemy.
POLOND, ALFRED
Rank and organization: Private, Company F, 10th U.S. Infantry. Place and date: At Santiago, Cuba, 1 July 1898. Entered service at: Lapeer, Mich. Birth: Lapeer, Mich. Date of issue: 22 June 1899. Citation: Gallantly assisted in the rescue of the wounded from in front of the lines and while under heavy fire of the enemy.
QUINN, ALEXANDER M.
Rank and organization: Sergeant, Company A, 13th U.S. Infantry. Place and date: At Santiago, Cuba, 1 July 1898. Entered service at: Philadelphia, Pa. Birth: Passaic, N.J. Date of issue: 22 June 1899. Citation: Gallantly assisted in the rescue of the wounded from in front of the lines and under heavy fire from the enemy.
RESSLER, NORMAN W.
Rank and organization: Corporal, Company D, 17th U.S. Infantry. Place and date: At El Caney, Cuba, 1 July 1898. Entered service at: Dalmatia, Pa. Birth: Dalmatia, Pa. Date of issue: 21 August 1899. Citation: Gallantly assisted in the rescue of the wounded from in front of the lines and under heavy fire of the enemy.
ROBERTS, CHARLES D.
Rank and organization: Second Lieutenant, U.S. Army, 17th U.S. Infantry. Place and date: At El Caney, Cuba, 1 July 1898. Entered service at: Fort D. A. Russell, Wyo. Birth: Fort D. A. Russell, Wyo. Date of issue: 21 June 1899. Citation: Gallantly assisted in the rescue of the wounded from in front of the lines under heavy fire of the enemy.
ROOSEVELT, THEODORE
The President of the United States of America, authorized by Act of Congress, March 3, 1863, has awarded in the name of The Congress the Medal of Honor to
LIEUTENANT COLONEL THEODORE ROOSEVELT
UNITED STATES ARMY
for conspicuous gallantry and intrepidity at the risk of his life above and beyond the call of duty:
Lieutenant Colonel Theodore Roosevelt distinguished himself by acts of bravery on 1 July, 1898, near Santiago de Cuba, Republic of Cuba, while leading a daring charge up San Juan Hill. Lieutenant Colonel Roosevelt, in total disregard for his personal safety, and accompanied by only four or five men, led a desperate and gallant charge up San Juan Hill, encouraging his troops to continue the assault through withering enemy fire over open countryside. Facing the enemy’s heavy fire, he displayed extraordinary bravery throughout the charge, and was the frst to reach the enemy trenches, where he quickly killed one of the enemy with his pistol, allowing his men to continue the assault. His leadership and valor turned the tide in the Battle for San Juan Hill. Lieutenant Colonel Roosevelt’s extraordinary heroism and devotion to duty are in keeping with the highest traditions of military service and reflect greet credit upon himself, his unit, and the United States Army.
SHEPHERD, WARREN J.
Rank and organization: Corporal, Company D, 17th U.S. Infantry. Place and date: At El Caney, Cuba, 1 July 1898. Entered service at: Westover, Pa. Birth: Cherry Tree, Pa. Date of issue: 21 August 1899. citation. Gallantly assisted in the rescue of the wounded from in front of the lines under heavy fire from the enemy.
WENDE, BRUNO
Rank and organization: Private, Company C, 17th U.S. Infantry. Place and date: At El Caney, Cuba, 1 July 1898. Entered service at: Canton, Ohio. Birth: Germany. Date of issue: 22 June 1899. Citation: Gallantly assisted in the rescue of the wounded from in front of the lines and under heavy fire from the enemy.
