Western History Today: First Medal of Honor Is Awarded

February 13 —

Bernard J. D. Irwin 1st Medal of Honor Winner
Bernard J. D. Irwin
1st Medal of Honor Winner

The earliest military action to be revered with a Medal of Honor award is performed by Colonel Bernard J.D. Irwin, an assistant army surgeon serving in the first major U.S.-Apache conflict on this day in 1861, near Apache Pass, in south-eastern Arizona.  Irwin, an Irish-born doctor, volunteered to go to the rescue of Second Lieutenant George N. Bascom,

Capt. George N. Bascom
Capt. George N. Bascom

who was trapped with 60 men of the U.S. Seventh Infantry by the Chiricahua Apaches. Irwin and 14 men, initially without horses, began the 100-mile trek to Bascom’s forces riding on mules. After fighting and capturing Apaches along the way and recovering stolen horses and cattle, they reached Bascom’s forces on February 14 and proved instrumental in break-ing the siege.  The first U.S.-Apache conflict had begun several days before, when Cochise, the Chiricahua Apache chief,

Cochise, Apache leader
Cochise, Apache  chief

kidnapped three white men to exchange for his brother and two nephews held by the U.S. Army on false charges of stealing cattle and kidnapping a child. When the exchange was refused, Cochise killed the white men, and the army responded by killing his relatives, setting off the first of the Apache wars.  Although Irwin’s bravery in this conflict was the earliest Medal of Honor action, the award itself was not created until 1862, and it was not until January 21, 1894, that Irwin received the nation’s highest military honor.

 

                                                                                      

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Photo courtesy of wikipedia.com