On December 29, 1890, in one of the final chapters of America’s
long Indian wars, the U.S. Cavalry killed 146 Sioux at Wounded
Knee on the Pine Ridge reservation in South Dakota.

A depiction of the Ghost Dance.

Civilian burial party, loading victims on a cart for burial.

Mass grave at the site of the 1890 Wounded Knee Massacre.

Bernard John Dowling Irwin
(June 24, 1830 – December 15, 1917)

The earliest military action to be awarded a Medal of Honor
was performed by Colonel Bernard J.D. Irwin, an assistant
army surgeon serving in the first major U.S.-Apache conflict.

Near Apache Pass, in southeastern Arizona, Irwin, an Irish-
born doctor, volunteered to go to the rescue of Second
Lieutenant 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 breaking the siege.

A collection of Irwin’s papers is held at the National Library of
Medicine.

Fort Apache, Arizona

Apache Pass, Arizona

Without bothering to identify the village or do any reconnaissance,
Lieutenant Colonel George A. Custer led an early morning attack
attack on a band of peaceful Cheyenne living with Chief Black
Kettle.

Convicted of desertion and mistreatment of soldiers earlier that
year in a military court, the government had suspended Custer
from rank and command for one year.

Ten months into his punishment, in September 1868, General Philip
 Sheridan reinstated Custer to lead a campaign against Cheyenna
Indians who had been making raids in Kansas and Oklahoma
that summer.

Sheridan was frustrated by the inability of his other officers to find
and engage the enemy, and despite his poor record and unpopularity
with the men of the 7th Cavalry, Custer was a good fighter.

George Armstrong Custer
(December 5, 1839 – June 25, 1876)

Black Kettle
(c1803 – November 27, 1868)