Theodore W. Goldin (July 25, 1858February 15, 1935) 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 ...

during the American Indian Wars. He 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

Battle of the Little Bighorn The Battle of the Little Bighorn, known to the Lakota and other Plains Indians as the Battle of the Greasy Grass, and also commonly referred to as Custer's Last Stand, was an armed engagement between combined forces of the Lakota Sioux, Nor ...

Early and personal life

Goldin was adopted as an infant by Reuben W. Goldin and Elizabeth E. Bradfield Goldin of

Avon, Wisconsin The Town of Avon is located in Rock County, Wisconsin, United States. The population was 570 at the 2020 census. Geography According to the United States Census Bureau, all of the town's land has a total area of 36.1 square miles (93.6 ...

. His birth name has been lost. When Goldin was four, his family moved to

Brodhead, Wisconsin Brodhead is a city in Green County, Wisconsin, Green and Rock County, Wisconsin, Rock counties in the U.S. state of Wisconsin. The population was 3,274 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 census. In February 2000, the city annexed a portion of l ...

. Goldin married Laura Belle Dunwiddie in 1881. The couple had one son, Herbert D. Goldin, in 1884. Laura died in 1911, and Goldin married Sarah J. Murphy in 1929.

Indian Wars

Goldin enlisted in the U.S. Army on April 8, 1876, lying about his age. (His year of birth is thus often incorrectly listed as 1855.) He was assigned to the

7th U.S. Cavalry The 7th Cavalry Regiment is a United States Army cavalry regiment formed in 1866. Its official nickname is "Garryowen", after the Irish air " Garryowen" that was adopted as its march tune. The regiment participated in some of the largest ba ...

. Less than three months later, Goldin's regiment fought in the

Battle of Little Bighorn The Battle of the Little Bighorn, known to the Lakota people, Lakota and other Plains Indians as the Battle of the Greasy Grass, and also commonly referred to as Custer's Last Stand, was an armed engagement between combined forces of the Lako ...

. Goldin also took part in the

Battle of Bear Paw The Battle of Bear Paw (also sometimes called Battle of the Bears Paw or Battle of the Bears Paw Mountains) was the final engagement of the Nez Perce War of 1877. Following a running fight from north central Idaho Territory over the previous f ...

in September and October 1877. He was discharged from the Army on November 13, 1877 for having enlisted under false pretenses, after his parents appealed to the Army for his discharge.

Post-war career

Goldin began studying law in 1881, and was admitted to the bar in 1882. He was elected as clerk of the circuit court of Green County in fall of that year. He served as assistant chief clerk of the

Wisconsin State Assembly The Wisconsin State Assembly is the lower house of the Wisconsin Legislature. Together with the smaller Wisconsin Senate, the two constitute the legislative branch of the U.S. state of Wisconsin. Representatives are elected for two-year terms, ...

from 1882 to 1885. He became a

Mason Mason may refer to: Occupations * Mason, brick mason, or bricklayer, a craftsman who lays bricks to construct brickwork, or who lays any combination of stones, bricks, cinder blocks, or similar pieces * Stone mason, a craftsman in the stone-cut ...

in 1883, eventually rising to the 33-degree in 1902. Goldin moved in Janesville in 1885, where he engaged in private practice. In 1889, Goldin was appointed a

colonel Colonel (abbreviated as Col., Col or COL) is a senior military officer rank used in many countries. It is also used in some police forces and paramilitary organizations. In the 17th, 18th and 19th centuries, a colonel was typically in charge of ...

in the

Wisconsin National Guard The Wisconsin National Guard consists of the Wisconsin Army National Guard and the Wisconsin Air National Guard. It is a part of the Government of Wisconsin under the control of the Wisconsin Department of Military Affairs. The Wisconsin Natio ...

and served as inspector for rifle practice. From 1894 to 1896 he was president of the Janesville Board of Education, and in 1895-1903 was clerk of the circuit court for Rock County. From 1903 to 1904, Goldin was chief clerk of the Wisconsin Senate. Around the start of the 20th century, Goldin served as Chairman of the Republican Party of Wisconsin. In 1904, Goldin sided with the

stalwarts The Stalwarts were a faction of the Republican Party that existed briefly in the United States during and after Reconstruction and the Gilded Age during the 1870s and 1880s. Led by U.S. Senator Roscoe Conkling—also known as "Lord Roscoe"—S ...

in the Republican Party of Wisconsin: a conservative faction led by Senator John Coit Spooner that was opposed to Governor

Robert M. La Follette, Sr. Robert Marion "Fighting Bob" La Follette Sr. (June 14, 1855June 18, 1925), was an American lawyer and politician. He represented Wisconsin in both chambers of Congress and served as the 20th Governor of Wisconsin. A Republican for most of his ...

, running for a third term. The "Spooner Faction", with Goldin as its chairman, was successful in getting their splinter party recognized over the liberal La Follette faction by the

Republican National Committee The Republican National Committee (RNC) is a U.S. political committee that assists the Republican Party of the United States. It is responsible for developing and promoting the Republican brand and political platform, as well as assisting in fu ...

for the 1904 elections. But when "Fighting Bob" La Follette ended up winning re-election that fall, Goldin's political career in Wisconsin was finished. Goldin soon after moved to

Kansas City, Missouri Kansas City (abbreviated KC or KCMO) is the largest city in Missouri by population and area. As of the 2020 census, the city had a population of 508,090 in 2020, making it the 36th most-populous city in the United States. It is the central ...

, where he worked as a director of the

YMCA YMCA, sometimes regionally called the Y, is a worldwide youth organization based in Geneva, Switzerland, with more than 64 million beneficiaries in 120 countries. It was founded on 6 June 1844 by George Williams in London, originally ...

in 1907. He wandered around the southwestern United States, landing in

Oklahoma City Oklahoma City (), officially the City of Oklahoma City, and often shortened to OKC, is the capital and largest city of the U.S. state of Oklahoma. The county seat of Oklahoma County, it ranks 20th among United States cities in population, a ...

in 1911,

Colorado Colorado (, other variants) is a state in the Mountain West subregion of the Western United States. It encompasses most of the Southern Rocky Mountains, as well as the northeastern portion of the Colorado Plateau and the western edge of t ...

and

El Paso, Texas El Paso (; "the pass") is a city in and the county seat, seat of El Paso County, Texas, El Paso County in the western corner of the U.S. state of Texas. The 2020 population of the city from the United States Census Bureau, U.S. Census Bureau w ...

, in 1912. He retired to the Masonic Home in

Dousman, Wisconsin Dousman is a village in Waukesha County, Wisconsin, United States. The population was 2,419 at the 2020 census. History A post office called Dousman has been in operation since 1856. Founded in 1881, the village was named for Talbot C. Dousman, ...

, in 1924. In 1929, he moved to the Wisconsin Veterans Home in the town of King, Waupaca County, Wisconsin, where he died in 1935.

Controversy and Honor for the Battle of Little Big Horn

Beginning with a letter to the editor published in the ''Janesville Daily Gazette'' in 1886, Goldin began to publish his version of the Battle of Little Big Horn, in which he castigated Major

Marcus Reno Marcus Albert Reno (November 15, 1834 – March 30, 1889) was a United States career military officer who served in the American Civil War where he was a combatant in a number of major battles, and later under George Armstrong Custer in the Gr ...

and praised General

George A. Custer George Armstrong Custer (December 5, 1839 – June 25, 1876) was a United States Army officer and cavalry commander in the American Civil War and the American Indian Wars. Custer graduated from West Point in 1861 at the bottom of his class, b ...

. Goldin claimed that Custer gave him a last message to be carried to Reno, shortly before Custer was killed. Goldin also campaigned to be awarded the Medal of Honor for his role in the Battle of Little Big Horn, writing to Captain

Frederick Benteen Frederick William Benteen (August 24, 1834 – June 22, 1898) was a military officer who first fought during the American Civil War. He was appointed to commanding ranks during the Indian Campaigns and Great Sioux War against the Lakota and N ...

and speaking to Lieutenant

Luther Hare Luther Rector Hare (August 24, 1851 – December 22, 1929) was an officer in the 7th U.S. Cavalry, best known for participating in the Battle of the Little Big Horn. Hare was born in Greencastle, Indiana to Silas Hare and his wife Octavia Eliza ...

in person. In 1896 Joseph Doe, a fellow Wisconsin politician and Mason, and also Assistant Secretary of War, found that there was sufficient evidence for approval of a Medal of Honor for Goldin. As the years went by, Goldin embellished his role in the battle more and more. The height of embellishment is found in a chapter in the book ''Northwestern fights and fighters'' by Cyrus Townsend Brady. In addition to his claims of carrying Custer's last dispatch, Goldin claimed he joined the Seventh Cavalry in 1873, witnessed the death of Lt. Benjamin Hodgson, and was present for a discussion of strategy between Captain

Myles Keogh Myles Walter Keogh (25 March 1840 – 25 June 1876) was an Irish people, Irish soldier. He served in the armies of the Papal States during the war for Italian unification in 1860, and was recruited into the Union Army during the American Civil ...

and General Custer. When others challenged his claims, Goldin claimed that Brady had distorted his letter. Goldin's embellishments did not stop at his role in the Battle of Little Big Horn. He also added to his own personal biography. In a sketch published in a book about Rock County, he claimed to have been born in 1855, studied at Tilton University for four years and then, at age twenty, enlisted in the Army, where he served for nearly four years. The book also claims he was wounded twice at the Battle of Little Big Horn and was discharged due to disability. In 1924, a Missouri congressman helped Goldin obtain a pension as a Medal of Honor recipient through a special act of Congress. In 1927, he was able to change his discharge from "not honorable" (having lied about his age) to "honorable" with the help of prominent friends. He was buried in King, Wisconsin.http://museum.dva.state.wi.us/Res_honorrecipients_List.asp#CivilWar Goldin carried on, for some years between 1891 and 1896, a correspondence with Captain Benteen, and the two became friends. Benteen's letters (but not Goldin's replies, which have not been preserved) were eventually published as the ''Benteen-Goldin Letters'' and are one of the few primary sources for Benteen's views on the battle.

Medal of Honor citation

His award citation for his actions in the Battle of Little Big Horn reads:

One of a party of volunteers who, under a heavy fire from the Indians, went for and brought water to the wounded.

References

Bibliography

* Cyrus Townsend Brady, "One of the Last Men to See Custer Alive." in ''Indian Fights and Fighters'', pp. 263–27
Indian Fights and Fighters
* Theodore W. Goldin, "The Seventh Cavalry at Canon Creek" in Cyrus Townsend Brady, ''Northwestern Fights and Fighters.'' New York: Doubleday, Page & Co., 1909
Northwestern Fights and Fighters
* Larry Sklenar, "Theodore W. Goldin: Little Big Horn Survivor and Winner of the Medal of Honor". ''Wisconsin Magazine of History'', vol. 80, no. 2 (Winter 1996–1997) pp. 106–123
106
{{DEFAULTSORT:Goldin, Theodore W. 1858 births 1935 deaths People from Rock County, Wisconsin People from Brodhead, Wisconsin Wisconsin Republicans Military personnel from Wisconsin United States Army Medal of Honor recipients United States Army soldiers American military personnel of the Indian Wars Republican Party of Wisconsin chairs Employees of the Wisconsin Legislature American Indian Wars recipients of the Medal of Honor