Private Marvin Charles Hillock–A Lost Medal of Honor Recipient

Posted on December 2, 2018 by Sam Russell

…for distinguished bravery in action against hostile Sioux Indians, near the Catholic Mission, on White Clay Creek, South Dakota, continuing on duty though painfully wounded.

1862 MOHPrivate Marvin C. Hillock was assigned to Captain Charles A. Varnum’s B Troop sometime prior to the regiment’s departure from Fort Riley to South Dakota in November 1890. Being in B Troop, likely placed Hillock on the ‘V’ shaped angle of sentinels surrounding the council of Indians during the disarmament on Wounded Knee on the morning of December 29, 1890. This position would put him in the thick of the fight at the opening volley. Twelve of the forty-three soldiers in B Troop were casualties that day, including the company’s First Lieutenant, John C. Gresham. Of those twelve, five where killed outright and two more died later of their wounds. This was the second highest casualty rate of the ten line companies at Wounded Knee, including the artillery and Indian scouts. Only K Troop, making up the other leg of the ‘V’, had experienced more casualties, sixteen, including six killed in action and two that died of wounds. Hillock came through the battle unscathed but was not so fortunate the following day at the battle on White Clay Creek. There Hillock was one of two soldiers from B Troop wounded, the other being Private William S. Kirkpatrick. Captain Varnum recorded in the company muster roll that Private Hillock was sick in quarters suffering from a gunshot wound to his left foot received in action on December 30.[1] Continue reading →

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Flight of Big Foot’s Band: Lieutenant Colonel Edwin V. Sumner’s Report

Posted on November 3, 2018 by Sam Russell

I was not aware that Big Foot or his people were considered hostile, and am now at a loss to understand why they were so considered, every act of theirs being within my experience directly to the contrary, and reports made by me were to the effect that the Indians were friendly and quiet.

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Edwin V. Sumner, Jr., circa 1865.

Edwin Vose Sumner, Jr., was fifty-five during the Pine Ridge Campaign of 1890-1891. Perhaps destined to serve in the cavalry, he was born in 1835 at Carlisle Barracks, Pennsylvania, where his father had established and was commanding the Army’s school for mounted troops. Sumner began his military service as a volunteer when he enlisted at the outset of the Civil War. During the course of the rebellion, he rose to the regular rank of captain in the 1st U.S. Cavalry, and was serving as a lieutenant colonel of U.S. Volunteers in the 1st New York Mounted Rifles. He received a brevet promotion to major for gallantry in the battle of Todd’s Tavern in 1864. At the end of the war he was awarded a brevet of brigadier general in the volunteers and a brevet of lieutenant colonel in the regular army, both for gallant and meritorious service. After the war he reverted to his regular rank of captain serving with the 1st Cavalry until promoted to major in the 5th Cavalry in 1879. Sumner was promoted to lieutenant colonel in the 8th cavalry in April 1890, the rank and position he held during the Pine Ridge Campaign.[1]

The same month that Sumner joined the 8th Cavalry, Brigadier General Thomas H. Ruger, commanding the Department of Dakota, ordered a camp be established on the Cheyenne River just south of the Indian reservation of the same name. The troops were there expressly to observe a band of Minicounjou Lakota under the chieftainship of Big Foot, also known as Spotted Elk. Captain Argalus G. Hennisee, commanding Troop I, 8th Cavalry, referred to the field site as the Camp on Cheyenne River, S. Dak., or more briefly, Camp Cheyenne. In the first post return, Hennisee wrote: Continue reading →

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First Sergeant Frederick Ernest Toy, G Troop, 7th Cavalry – Conspicuous Bravery and Coolness in Action

Posted on April 11, 2018 by Sam Russell

I saw the sergeant deliberately aim at and hit two Indians who had run into the ravine.
–Captain Winfield S. Edgerly

The first sergeant of G Troop at Wounded Knee was twenty-five-year-old Frederick E. Toy, a native of Buffalo, New York. He was two years into his second enlistment, and according to army records, was almost twenty-nine. As with many troopers, Toy claimed he was twenty-one when he enlisted at the age of 18, so as to avoid the requirement for parental permission to serve. This made him one of the two youngest first sergeants at Wounded Knee (John B. Turney was twenty-three). In addition to being Captain Edgerly’s most trusted enlisted soldier, he was also one of the best sharpshooters in the regiment, a skill he used to deadly effect on December 29, 1890.[1]

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(Click to enlarge) Inset of the map that Major General N. A. Miles included with this 1891 annual report.[2]

Captain Edgerly, in his recommendation of Private Hamilton, wrote, “At the time the firing at Wounded Knee commenced, my Troop was mounted and near the Indians. I immediately dismounted it and ordered the horses to be taken to the ravine close by, for cover. Bullets whistled over our heads, two horses were hit and they were all more or less frightened.” It was during this action that First Sergeant Toy put his marksmanship to use. After the initial melee at the council circle, the Indians dashed south to seek cover in the ravine from which several continued firing on the troopers. Toy took deliberate aim and killed at least two Indians in the dry gulch.[3] Continue reading →

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