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Griffin Seward (August 10, 1842 – September 10, 1908) was an
Rank and organization: Wagoner, Company G, 8th U.S. Cavalry. Place and date: At Chiricahua Mountains, Ariz., October 20, 1869. Birth: Dover, Del. Date of issue: February 14, 1870.
Citation:
Gallantry in action.
American Civil War
The American Civil War (April 12, 1861 – May 26, 1865; also known by other names) was a civil war in the United States. It was fought between the Union ("the North") and the Confederacy ("the South"), the latter formed by states th ...
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. ...
recipient who served in 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 ...
as a wagoner in Company G of 8th United States Regular Cavalry.
Biography
Born in Hazlettsville, six miles west ofDover, Delaware
Dover () is the capital and second-largest city of the U.S. state of Delaware. It is also the county seat of Kent County and the principal city of the Dover, DE, Metropolitan Statistical Area, which encompasses all of Kent County and is part of ...
, Seward enlisted on August 16, 1861, in Company B, 2nd Pennsylvania Cavalry. He was noted as a farmer, 5' 3" tall, weighed 113 lbs., with gray eyes, black hair, and a dark complexion. During the Civil War, Seward was taken as a prisoner in April, 1863, later he either was released or escaped and then was taken as a prisoner a second time when he was sent to Andersonville, Georgia
Andersonville is a city in Sumter County, Georgia, United States. As of the 2020 census, the city had a population of 237. It is located in the southwest part of the state, approximately southwest of Macon on the Central of Georgia railroad. ...
.
Seward was discharged on July 13, 1865, when he returned to Delaware to work on a farm in Delaware City
Delaware City is a city in New Castle County, Delaware, United States. The population was 1,695 at the 2010 census. It is a small port town on the eastern terminus of the Chesapeake and Delaware Canal and is the location of the Forts Ferry Cross ...
. He re-enlisted in November 1866 and was sent to the Arizona Territory, where he fought Cochise and the Chiricahua
Chiricahua ( ) is a band of Apache Native Americans.
Based in the Southern Plains and Southwestern United States, the Chiricahua (Tsokanende ) are related to other Apache groups: Ndendahe (Mogollon, Carrizaleño), Tchihende (Mimbreño), Sehende ...
Apaches during a battle at Chiricahua Mountains on October 20, 1869, earning the Medal of Honor for Gallantry in Action.
Captain Bernard noted in his report: These men are they who advanced with me up the steep and rocky mesa under as heavy a fire as I ever saw delivered from the number of men, Indians, say from one hundred to two hundred. These men advanced under this fire until within thirty steps from the Indians when they came to a ledge of rocks where every man who showed his head was shot at by several Indians at once. Here the men remained and did good shooting through the crevices of the rocks until ordered to fall back which was done by running from rock to rock where they would halt and return the fire of the Indians.
After his discharge at Fort Selden
Fort Selden was a United States Army post, occupying the area in what is now Radium Springs, New Mexico. The site was long a campground along the El Camino Real de Tierra Adentro. It was the site of a Confederate Army camp in 1861. The U. S. A ...
in November 1871,Register of Enlistments in the US Army, 1798-1914 Seward remained in the area and became an Indian trader at a post near Holbrook, Arizona Territory. He died at the National Home for Disabled Volunteer Soldiers in Los Angeles, California (Santa Monica, California
Santa Monica (; Spanish language, Spanish: ''Santa Mónica'') is a city in Los Angeles County, California, Los Angeles County, situated along Santa Monica Bay on California's South Coast (California), South Coast. Santa Monica's 2020 United Sta ...
) on September 10, 1908, and was buried at Los Angeles National Cemetery.
Medal of Honor citation
Rank and organization: Wagoner, Company G, 8th U.S. Cavalry. Place and date: At Chiricahua Mountains, Ariz., October 20, 1869. Birth: Dover, Del. Date of issue: February 14, 1870.
Citation:
Gallantry in action.
See also
*List of Medal of Honor recipients
The Medal of Honor was created during the American Civil War and is the highest military decoration presented by the United States government to a member of its armed forces. The recipient must have distinguished themselves at the risk of their ...
References
External links
* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Seward, Griffin 1842 births 1908 deaths Union Army soldiers United States Army Medal of Honor recipients People from Kent County, Delaware People of Delaware in the American Civil War Griffin Seward American people of the Indian Wars American Indian Wars recipients of the Medal of Honor Burials at Los Angeles National Cemetery People from Holbrook, Arizona