Clarence Edwin Sutton (February 18, 1871 – October 9, 1916) was a

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 ...

sergeant who received 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 his actions 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 ...

Biography

Sutton was born in

Urbanna, Virginia Urbanna is a town in Middlesex County, Virginia, United States. Urbanna means “City of Anne” and was named in honor of England's Queen Anne. The population was 476 at the 2010 census. Geography Urbanna is located at (37.637796, −76 ...

, on February 18, 1871, the oldest of four children of Thomas E. and Ellen Sutton. His father Thomas worked as a merchant. Sutton entered the

Virginia Military Institute la, Consilio et Animis (on seal) , mottoeng = "In peace a glorious asset, In war a tower of strength""By courage and wisdom" (on seal) , established = , type = Public senior military college , accreditation = SACS , endowment = $696.8 mill ...

on August 18, 1885. He was forced to repeat his first year there, becoming a member of the class of 1890, and resigned from the school in 1888 before graduating. Sutton joined the Marine Corps from

Washington, D.C. ) , image_skyline = , image_caption = Clockwise from top left: the Washington Monument and Lincoln Memorial on the National Mall, United States Capitol, Logan Circle, Jefferson Memorial, White House, Adams Morgan, ...

in June 1899, and served in the

Philippine–American War The Philippine–American War or Filipino–American War ( es, Guerra filipina-estadounidense, tl, Digmaang Pilipino–Amerikano), previously referred to as the Philippine Insurrection or the Tagalog Insurgency by the United States, was an arm ...

. By July 13, 1900, he had reached the rank of

sergeant Sergeant (abbreviated to Sgt. and capitalized when used as a named person's title) is a rank in many uniformed organizations, principally military and policing forces. The alternative spelling, ''serjeant'', is used in The Rifles and other uni ...

and was serving in

Tianjin 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 ...

(then known to Americans as "Tientsin"),

China China, officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is a country in East Asia. It is the world's most populous country, with a population exceeding 1.4 billion, slightly ahead of India. China spans the equivalent of five time zones and ...

, in the midst of the Boxer Rebellion. Sutton resigned from the military in about 1909 due to illness, after reaching the rank of first sergeant. He died seven years later on October 9, 1916, at age 45 and was buried in site 18847 section 17, at

Arlington National Cemetery Arlington National Cemetery is one of two national cemeteries run by the United States Army. Nearly 400,000 people are buried in its 639 acres (259 ha) in Arlington, Virginia. There are about 30 funerals conducted on weekdays and 7 held on Sa ...

Arlington County, Virginia Arlington County is a County (United States), county in the Virginia, Commonwealth of Virginia. The county is situated in Northern Virginia on the southwestern bank of the Potomac River directly across from the Washington, D.C., District of Co ...

The war

The small garrison of Marines stationed in Tientsin found themselves under attack and outnumbered by the nationalists (boxers), who were determined to "drive the foreign devils" out. A multinational military force from the Eight-Nation Alliance whose members were

Austria Austria, , bar, Östareich officially the Republic of Austria, is a country in the southern part of Central Europe, lying in the Eastern Alps. It is a federation of nine states, one of which is the capital, Vienna, the most populous ...

Hungary Hungary ( hu, Magyarország ) is a landlocked country in Central Europe. Spanning of the Carpathian Basin, it is bordered by Slovakia to the north, Ukraine to the northeast, Romania to the east and southeast, Serbia to the south, Croatia a ...

France France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of Overseas France, overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic Ocean, Atlantic, Pacific Ocean, Pac ...

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 ...

Italy Italy ( it, Italia ), officially the Italian Republic, ) or the Republic of Italy, is a country in Southern Europe. It is located in the middle of the Mediterranean Sea, and its territory largely coincides with the homonymous geographical re ...

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 ...

Russia Russia (, , ), or the Russian Federation, is a List of transcontinental countries, transcontinental country spanning Eastern Europe and North Asia, Northern Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by area, largest country in the ...

, the

United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Europe, off the north-western coast of the continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotland, Wales and North ...

, and the

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territorie ...

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 Sutton's unit, the First U.S. Infantry Regiment, and the Boxers. Major James Regan was badly wounded and Sutton together with Sergeant

Alexander J. Foley Sergeant Alexander Joseph Foley (February 19, 1866 – January 14, 1910) was a member of the United States Marine Corps who was awarded the United States' highest military decoration, the Medal of Honor, for having distinguished himself durin ...

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

, he stated the following:

It was with the greatest of difficulty and persistence in their noble work that they got me off the field. They placed me on an improvised litter made of two flannel shirts and two rifles. I was a heavy man and with the greatest of care over the roughest kind of ground, under fire, they carried me to the Marine Hospital in the city, a distance of about three miles....Such men are worthy of all the distinction the Government can confer upon them.

After serving in the Boxer Rebellion, Sutton and Foley were 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 Philippine Islands. There, on May 11, 1902, in the presence of their units, they were each bestowed with the

. 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 Harry Chapman Adriance (October 27, 1864 – January 25, 1934) was a United States marine who received the Medal of Honor for his "distinguished conduct in the presence of the enemy in battle near Tientsin, China" on July 13, 1900, during th ...

, Private James Cooney, Sergeant Alexander J. Foley, Private Clarence Edward Mathias, and Sergeant Clarence E. Sutton. were also awarded the Medal of Honor.

Medal of Honor citation

Rank and organization: Sergeant, U.S. Marine Corps. Born: 18 February 1871, Middlesex County, Va. Accredited to: Washington, D.C. G.O. No.: 55, 19 July 1901. Citation:

In action during the battle near Tientsin, China, 13 July 1900. Although under heavy fire from the enemy, Sutton assisted in carrying a wounded officer from the field of battle.

Awards and recognitions

Among Sutton'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,

References

External links