Private Private or privates may refer to: Music * " In Private", by Dusty Springfield from the 1990 album ''Reputation'' * Private (band), a Denmark-based band * "Private" (Ryōko Hirosue song), from the 1999 album ''Private'', written and also recorde ...

Christian Steiner (1843 – August 5, 1880) was a German-born

American American(s) may refer to: * American, something of, from, or related to the United States of America, commonly known as the "United States" or "America" ** Americans, citizens and nationals of the United States of America ** American ancestry, pe ...

soldier in the

U.S. Army The United States Army (USA) is the land service branch of the United States Armed Forces. It is one of the eight U.S. uniformed services, and is designated as the Army of the United States in the U.S. Constitution.Article II, section 2, cl ...

who served as a

saddle The saddle is a supportive structure for a rider of an animal, fastened to an animal's back by a girth. The most common type is equestrian. However, specialized saddles have been created for oxen, camels and other animals. It is not kno ...

r with the 8th U.S. Cavalry during the

Apache Wars The Apache Wars were a series of armed conflicts between the United States Army and various Apache tribal confederations fought in the southwest between 1849 and 1886, though minor hostilities continued until as late as 1924. After the Mexic ...

in the

Arizona Territory The Territory of Arizona (also known as Arizona Territory) was a territory of the United States that existed from February 24, 1863, until February 14, 1912, when the remaining extent of the territory was admitted to the Union as the state of ...

. He was one of thirty-two men awarded 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 gallantry battling against

Cochise Cochise (; Apache: ''Shi-ka-She'' or ''A-da-tli-chi'', lit.: ''having the quality or strength of an oak''; later ''K'uu-ch'ish'' or ''Cheis'', lit. ''oak''; June 8, 1874) was leader of the Chihuicahui local group of the Chokonen and principa ...

and the

Apache Indians The Apache () are a group of culturally related Native American tribes in the Southwestern United States, which include the Chiricahua, Jicarilla, Lipan, Mescalero, Mimbreño, Ndendahe (Bedonkohe or Mogollon and Nednhi or Carrizaleño and ...

in the

Chiricahua Mountains The Chiricahua Mountains massif is a large mountain range in southeastern Arizona which is part of the Basin and Range province of the west and southwestern United States and northwest Mexico; the range is part of the Coronado National Forest. T ...

on October 20, 1869.

Biography

Christian Steiner was born in

Württemberg Württemberg ( ; ) is a historical German territory roughly corresponding to the cultural and linguistic region of Swabia. The main town of the region is Stuttgart. Together with Baden and Hohenzollern, two other historical territories, Würt ...

Germany Germany,, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It is the second most populous country in Europe after Russia, and the most populous member state of the European Union. Germany is situated betwe ...

in 1843. He later emigrated to the United States and settled in

St. Louis, Missouri St. Louis () is the second-largest city in Missouri, United States. It sits near the confluence of the Mississippi River, Mississippi and the Missouri Rivers. In 2020, the city proper had a population of 301,578, while the Greater St. Louis, ...

, amid a growing

German-American German Americans (german: Deutschamerikaner, ) are Americans who have full or partial German ancestry. With an estimated size of approximately 43 million in 2019, German Americans are the largest of the self-reported ancestry groups by the Unite ...

population, joining the

United States Army The United States Army (USA) is the land service branch of the United States Armed Forces. It is one of the eight U.S. uniformed services, and is designated as the Army of the United States in the U.S. Constitution.Article II, section 2, cla ...

from that city in May 1868. As a

r in Company G of the 8th U.S. Cavalry Regiment,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. 553)Senate Committee on Veterans Affairs. ''Medal of Honor recipients, 1863-1973, 93rd Cong., 1st sess''. Washington, DC: US Government Printing Office, 1973. (pg. 324) he was assigned to frontier duty and took part in the southwest military campaigns against the

Plains Indians Plains Indians or Indigenous peoples of the Great Plains and Canadian Prairies are the Native American tribes and First Nation band governments who have historically lived on the Interior Plains (the Great Plains and Canadian Prairies) of N ...

. Steiner was stationed in the

during the

. He was among the sixty-one cavalry troopers from the 1st and 8th Cavalry Regiment who, on October 5, 1868, pursued an Apache raiding party under

following attacks on a

stage coach A stagecoach is a four-wheeled public transport coach used to carry paying passengers and light packages on journeys long enough to need a change of horses. It is strongly sprung and generally drawn by four horses although some versions are draw ...

en route to

Tucson , "(at the) base of the black ill , nicknames = "The Old Pueblo", "Optics Valley", "America's biggest small town" , image_map = , mapsize = 260px , map_caption = Interactive map ...

and a group of

cowboy A cowboy is an animal herder who tends cattle on ranches in North America, traditionally on horseback, and often performs a multitude of other ranch-related tasks. The historic American cowboy of the late 19th century arose from the '' vaquer ...

s in the

Sulphur Springs Valley The Sulphur Springs Valley is a valley in the eastern half of Cochise County, Arizona. The valley covers an approximated vertical rectangle west of the Chiricahua Mountains–Dos Cabezas Mountains complex. The Sulphur Springs Valley is the larg ...

. Leaving

Fort Bowie Fort Bowie was a 19th-century outpost of the United States Army located in southeastern Arizona near the present day town of Willcox, Arizona. The remaining buildings and site are now protected as Fort Bowie National Historic Site. Fort Bowie ...

, he followed Lt. William H. Winters and Captain Reuben F. Bernard in a fifteen-day pursuit of Cochise's band, who had fled to the Apache stronghold in the

(between Red Rock and Turtle Mountain), before finally catching up to them on October 20. In what was one of the major battles of the Apache campaign, famously called the "Campaign of the Rocky Mesa", Steiner was among the thirty-two soldiers cited for "gallantry in action" and officially awarded the

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. ) on February 14, 1870. He was discharged in May 1873, and re-enlisted in August of the following year. He died on August 5, 1880, at the age of 37, and buried at Hollywood Cemetery in

Hot Springs, Arkansas Hot Springs is a resort city in the state of Arkansas and the county seat of Garland County. The city is located in the Ouachita Mountains among the U.S. Interior Highlands, and is set among several natural hot springs for which the city is n ...

Medal of Honor citation

Rank and organization: Saddler, Company G, 8th U.S. Cavalry. Place and date: At Chiricahua Mountains, Ariz., 20 October 1869. Entered service at: --. Birth: Germany. Date of issue: 14 February 1870. Citation:

Gallantry in action.

References

External links

* Retrieved on December 29, 2010
Indian War Campaigns Medal of Honor Recipients for the United States Army
at

Army Knowledge Online Army Knowledge Online (AKO) provides web-based enterprise information services to the United States Army, joint, and Department of Defense customers. Enterprise services are provided to these customers on both classified and unclassified networks ...

{{DEFAULTSORT:Steiner, Christian 1843 births 1880 deaths American military personnel of the Indian Wars United States Army Medal of Honor recipients Military personnel from St. Louis United States Army soldiers German-born Medal of Honor recipients Württemberger emigrants to the United States American Indian Wars recipients of the Medal of Honor

Biography

Medal of Honor citation

See also

References

Further reading

External links