James Ward (1854–1901) was a
United States Army soldier in the
American Indian Wars and a recipient of the U.S. military's highest decoration, the
Medal of Honor, for his actions at the
Wounded Knee Massacre.
Biography
James Henry Ward was born in 1854 in
Quincy, Massachusetts
Quincy ( ) is a coastal U.S. city in Norfolk County, Massachusetts, United States. It is the largest city in the county and a part of Greater Boston, Metropolitan Boston as one of Boston's immediate southern suburbs. Its population in 2020 was 1 ...
, as the second of seven children in a family of Irish immigrants.
He first enlisted at the age of 22, leaving behind a job as a bricklayer. After enlisting in
Boston on August 3, 1876, he was assigned to the
5th Cavalry stationed at
Fort Laramie. Ward returned to civilian life in 1881 after five years of 'excellent' service before enlisting again in
New York City in 1883, this time with the
7th Cavalry. This second enlistment again ended with an 'excellent' service record, and Ward quickly followed it with a final enlistment in Boston in 1888, this time with the
4th Cavalry.
Battle of Wounded Knee and Medal of Honor
Partway through his third enlistment Ward transferred back to the 7th Cavalry, which was deployed on the
Pine Ridge Campaign
{{cat main
Wars between the United States and Native Americans
Indian wars of the American Old West
19th century in the United States
19th-century colonization of the Americas
Wars
War is an intense armed conflict between states, ...
in South Dakota to suppress followers of the
Ghost Dance
The Ghost Dance ( Caddo: Nanissáanah, also called the Ghost Dance of 1890) was a ceremony incorporated into numerous Native American belief systems. According to the teachings of the Northern Paiute spiritual leader Wovoka (renamed Jack Wilso ...
. On December 28, 1890, 7th Cavalry detained several hundred
Lakota near
Wounded Knee. American soldiers were sent into the Lakota prisoner camp to disarm tribal warriors the next morning. A small scuffle over a rifle quickly escalated to fighting throughout the camp.
Tasked with taking weapons from the Lakota, Ward was knocked to the ground and then stabbed several times with a knife during the first few moments of fighting.
Ward's assailant was killed by another soldier, enabling Ward to survive the initial melee and participate in the massacre.
The 7th Cavalry killed at least 200 men, women and children in encounters ranging from hand-to-hand melees to artillery fire.
Along with 19 other soldiers present at the massacre, Ward was awarded a Medal of Honor. Ward's official Medal of Honor citation reads:
Continued to fight after being severely wounded.
Later life
Ward was discharged from the Army before completing his final five-year enlistment and returned to Boston, where he took a job as a steamfitter. Ward married Catherine Harrington in 1894 in Boston and had a son in 1898. Suffering from paralysis, Ward was admitted to the
Boston Insane Hospital, where he died two years later in 1901. Ward is buried at
New Cavalry Cemetery in
Mattapan, a neighborhood in southern Boston.
See also
*
List of Medal of Honor recipients for the Indian Wars
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Ward, James
1854 births
1901 deaths
People from Quincy, Massachusetts
American Indian Wars recipients of the Medal of Honor
United States Army Medal of Honor recipients
American people of Irish descent
Boston State Hospital patients