William Grafton Austin (January 6, 1868 – July 15, 1929) was an American enlisted man and officer 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 with the

7th Cavalry Regiment The 7th Cavalry Regiment is a United States Army cavalry regiment formed in 1866. Its official nickname is "Garryowen", after the Ireland, Irish air "Garryowen (air), Garryowen" that was adopted as its march tune. The regiment participated i ...

during the

Indian Wars The American Indian Wars, also known as the American Frontier Wars, and the Indian Wars, were fought by European governments and colonists in North America, and later by the United States and Canadian governments and American and Canadian settle ...

. Austin 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 extraordinary gallantry at the Battle of Wounded Knee, but now called the Wounded Knee Massacre, on December 29, 1890.

Biography

William Grafton Austin was born on January 6, 1868, in Grimes County or

Galveston, Texas Galveston ( ) is a coastal resort city and port off the Southeast Texas coast on Galveston Island and Pelican Island in the U.S. state of Texas. The community of , with a population of 47,743 in 2010, is the county seat of surrounding Galvesto ...

. He enlisted in E Troop,

of the

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the List of United States cities by population, most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the L ...

on January 24, 1887; his age is recorded as 24 (birth year )."United States Registers of Enlistments in the U.S. Army, 1798-1914," database with images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/3:1:9392-6L12-C?cc=1880762&wc=M61R-1PF%3A176713301 : 22 May 2014), 084, 1885-1890, A-D > image 12 of 313; citing NARA microfilm publication M233 (Washington, D.C.: National Archives and Records Administration, n.d.), roll 44; FHL microfilm 1,319,377. He participated in the Wounded Knee Massacre on December 29, 1890, and was awarded the

on June 17, 1891, for actions "while the Indians were concealed in a ravine, assisted men on the skirmish line, directing their fire, etc., and using every effort to dislodge the enemy". He was discharged as a sergeant on January 23, 1892, at

Fort Riley, Kansas Fort Riley is a United States Army installation located in North Central Kansas, on the Kansas River, also known as the Kaw, between Junction City and Manhattan. The Fort Riley Military Reservation covers 101,733 acres (41,170 ha) in Gear ...

. After his discharge from the military, Austin returned to Savannah, Georgia where he was engaged in the Cotton business. He joined the Savannah Volunteer Guards in 1894 and rose in rank from private to captain of Company A, which unit he commanded in the

Spanish–American War , partof = the Philippine Revolution, the decolonization of the Americas, and the Cuban War of Independence , image = Collage infobox for Spanish-American War.jpg , image_size = 300px , caption = (clock ...

as part of the Second Georgia Regiment of Volunteers. Austin served as Chief of Police of Savannah and later owned and operated an automobile dealership. During World War I, Austin was appointed as commander of the 302nd Stevedore Regiment. In 1919 Austin is listed as a colonel in the Officers' Reserve Corps in the quartermaster section in the State of California. He later retired to

Palo Alto, California Palo Alto (; Spanish language, Spanish for "tall stick") is a charter city in the northwestern corner of Santa Clara County, California, United States, in the San Francisco Bay Area, named after a Sequoia sempervirens, coastal redwood tree kno ...

where he died on July 15, 1929.

Medal of Honor citation

Rank and organization: Sergeant, Company E, 7th U.S. Cavalry. Place and date: At Wounded Knee Creek, S. Dak., December 29, 1890. Entered service at: New York, N.Y. Birth: Galveston, Tex. Date of issue: June 27, 1891. Citation:

While the Indians were concealed in a ravine, assisted men on the skirmish line, directing their fire, etc., and using every effort to dislodge the enemy.

Biography

Medal of Honor citation

See also

References

Further reading