Sergeant Alexander Joseph Foley (February 19, 1866 – January 14, 1910) was a member of the

United States Marine Corps The United States Marine Corps (USMC), also referred to as the United States Marines, is the maritime land force service branch of the United States Armed Forces responsible for conducting expeditionary and amphibious operations through combi ...

who was awarded the

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' highest military decoration, the

Medal of Honor The Medal of Honor (MOH) is the United States Armed Forces' highest military decoration and is awarded to recognize American soldiers, sailors, marines, airmen, guardians and coast guardsmen who have distinguished themselves by acts of valor. ...

, for having distinguished himself during the

Boxer Rebellion The Boxer Rebellion, also known as the Boxer Uprising, the Boxer Insurrection, or the Yihetuan Movement, was an anti-foreign, anti-colonial, and anti-Christian uprising in China between 1899 and 1901, towards the end of the Qing dynasty, by ...

Early years

Foley was born in

Heckscherville, Pennsylvania Heckscherville is a census-designated place (CDP) in Schuylkill County, Pennsylvania, Schuylkill County, Pennsylvania, United States. The population was 220 at the 2010 census. Geography Heckscherville is located at (40.720951, -76.266458). Ac ...

Irish immigrants The Irish diaspora ( ga, Diaspóra na nGael) refers to ethnic Irish people and their descendants who live outside the island of Ireland. The phenomenon of migration from Ireland is recorded since the Early Middle Ages,Flechner and Meeder, The ...

, Edward and Catherine McDonald Foley. At a young age he decided that he was not going to work the

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as his father had done. He joined the United States Marine Corps in 1888 for a period of five years. In 1893, he re-enlisted and, in 1898, he was sent to

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during the

Spanish–American War , partof = the Philippine Revolution, the decolonization of the Americas, and the Cuban War of Independence , image = Collage infobox for Spanish-American War.jpg , image_size = 300px , caption = (clock ...

where he received his first taste of military action. He also participated in the Philippines Campaign.

Boxer Rebellion

In 1900, members of a Chinese nationalist society, known as the

Righteous Harmony Society The Boxer Rebellion, also known as the Boxer Uprising, the Boxer Insurrection, or the Yihetuan Movement, was an anti-foreign, anti-colonial, and anti-Christian uprising in China between 1899 and 1901, towards the end of the Qing dynasty, b ...

or in contemporary English parlance, "Boxers", resented the presence of Western foreigners and Chinese Christians on their soil and proceeded to attack them. This became known as the Boxer Rebellion. Hundreds of foreigners were murdered. The British Legation at

Peking } Beijing ( ; ; ), alternatively romanized as Peking ( ), is the capital of the People's Republic of China. It is the center of power and development of the country. Beijing is the world's most populous national capital city, with over 21 ...

was under siege for two months and soon after the international settlement at

Tientsin Tianjin (; ; Mandarin: ), alternately romanized as Tientsin (), is a municipality and a coastal metropolis in Northern China on the shore of the Bohai Sea. It is one of the nine national central cities in Mainland China, with a total popul ...

was also placed under siege by the Boxers. The small garrison of Marines stationed in Tientsin found themselves under attack and outnumbered by the nationalists, who were determined to "drive the foreign devils" out. A multinational military force from the

Eight-Nation Alliance The Eight-Nation Alliance was a multinational military coalition that invaded northern China in 1900 with the stated aim of relieving the foreign legations in Beijing, then besieged by the popular Boxer militia, who were determined to remove fo ...

whose members were

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Japan Japan ( ja, 日本, or , and formally , ''Nihonkoku'') is an island country in East Asia. It is situated in the northwest Pacific Ocean, and is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan, while extending from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north ...

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, the

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, and the

and consisting of 50,000 troops were sent to Tientsin to reinforce the troops already there. On June 21, 1900, the Boxers were entrenched on the outskirts of Tientsin. On July 13, 1900, a major skirmish occurred between Foley's unit, the Ninth U.S. Infantry, and the Boxers. Major James Regan was badly wounded and Foley together with Sergeant Clarence Edwin Sutton and two other Marines, under enemy fire and in total disregard for their own personal safety, rescued the Major. They were able to take Maj Regan to a field hospital three miles away from the location where he was wounded. In the letter which Major Regan wrote recommending the Medal of Honor, he stated the following: After serving in the Boxer Rebellion, Foley was sent to the Marine garrison located in

Cavite Cavite, officially the Province of Cavite ( tl, Lalawigan ng Kabite; Chavacano: ''Provincia de Cavite''), is a province in the Philippines located in the Calabarzon region in Luzon. Located on the southern shores of Manila Bay and southwest ...

, in the

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. There, on May 11, 1902, in the presence of his unit, he was bestowed with the Medal of Honor. Sergeant Sutton and the two other MarinesSix Marines of the 1st Regiment were awarded the Medal of Honor for actions on the same date, July 13, 1900, during the Boxer Rebellion: Sergeant John M. Adams (born George L. Day), Corporal Harry Chapman Adriance, Private James Cooney, Sergeant Alexander J. Foley, Private

Clarence Edward Mathias Clarence E. Mathias (December 12, 1876 – December 9, 1935) was an American Sergeant Major serving in the United States Marine Corps during the Boxer Rebellion who received the Medal of Honor for bravery. Biography Mathias was born December 12, ...

, and Sergeant Clarence E. Sutton. were also awarded the Medal of Honor.

Medal of Honor citation

Puerto Rico

Foley was reassigned to the Culebra Naval Station located on the island of

Culebra, Puerto Rico Isla Culebra (, ''Snake Island'') is an island, town and municipality of Puerto Rico and geographically part of the Spanish Virgin Islands. It is located approximately east of the Puerto Rican mainland, west of St. Thomas and north of Vieque ...

. On January 14, 1910, Sgt. Alexander J. Foley suffered a

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and died at the age of 44. The

Department of the Navy Navy Department or Department of the Navy may refer to: * United States Department of the Navy, * Navy Department (Ministry of Defence), in the United Kingdom, 1964-1997 * Confederate States Department of the Navy, 1861-1865 * Department of the ...

did not consider it practical at that time to transfer his body to his hometown, therefore Foley was buried in the municipal cemetery of Culebra, with flags at half mast and with

full military honors A military funeral is a memorial or burial rite given by a country's military for a soldier, sailor, marine or airman who died in battle, a veteran, or other prominent military figures or heads of state. A military funeral may feature guards ...

Awards and recognitions

Among Alexander J. Foley's decorations and medals were the following: File:US Navy Medal of Honor (1862 original).png, File:SpainMedNavy.jpg, File:NavyPhilCampMed.jpg, File:ChinaReliefNavy.png,

Notes

External links

* * Zane, Jay
Bio: Alexander J. Foley, Schuylkill County, PA
Historical Society of Schuylkill County. Retrieved 2006-06-23 * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Foley, Alexander Joseph 1866 births 1910 deaths American military personnel of the Boxer Rebellion American people of Irish descent United States Marine Corps Medal of Honor recipients People from Schuylkill County, Pennsylvania United States Marines American military personnel of the Spanish–American War Boxer Rebellion recipients of the Medal of Honor