William Wilson (Medal of Honor)

Interviewed in 1890 by a Washington newspaper, he recalled how the events had unfolded during that March 1872:[11]

"In the year 1872 I was a sergeant in Troop I, Fourth Cavalry, stationed at Fort Concho, Tex., and was ordered with a detail of one corporal and ten privates in pursuit of a raiding party of Indians who had stolen stock in the neighborhood of the post. On the morning of March 11 I started. After striking their trail five miles from the post I followed it all day and the greater part of the night on a trot and gallop, halting thirty minutes in the afternoon to eat a lunch, camping at night on the trail in the mountains. In the morning we started again, the trail leading toward the Colorado River, and after traveling some time I turned in to the river for the purpose of cooking breakfast, sending one man on lookout. We had hardly got our cups on the fire before the lookout was observed coming into camp on a run. We immediately upset our water, put out the fire, and led the horses in. By this time the lookout had reported Indians a short way up the river. I mounted my detail and moved up in the direction indicated, and as we were about crossing a small stream leading into the main river we were greeted by a shot and then by a straggling volley. We charged their position, going through their camp, and, taking my position on a small eminence in their rear, I dismounted my men and went to work. In about two hours I had the entire outfit, burnt their saddles and camping outfit, capturing their stock and bringing in one prisoner, killing two, and wounding three, without the loss of a man or horse in my detachment. We returned to Fort Concho, where we arrived on the morning of the 13th, having ridden 120 miles in fifty-four hours. My conduct was brought to the notice of the Government, and I was awarded Medal No. 1. That prisoner I brought in was questioned, and gave information in relation to camps of Indians on the

Staked Plains

[Llano Estacado], and three columns were sent to operate against them."

Wilson then earned his second Medal of Honor six months later. Part of a larger U.S. Cavalry force led through Texas by Gen. Ranald S. Mackenzie, Wilson and his fellow soldiers came upon a very large Commanche settlement along the North Fork of the Red River.^[12] One village alone was reported to have been made up of between 260 and 280 lodges with as many as 500 male and 300 female inhabitants. At 4 p.m. on September 28, 1872, the U.S. cavalrymen charged, beginning the Battle of the North Fork of the Red River, but were initially repulsed by one of the villages. When Mackenzie realized that the initial engagement had rendered Wilson's immediate superior incapable of continuing, Mackenzie ordered Wilson to take charge of his unit and attack a second village. Fighting in and around that village until sunset, Wilson and his men killed more than 100 members of the tribe, burned the village, and seized 3,000 ponies plus the village's food and other supplies. Also taking 130 surviving tribe members captive (most of whom were women and children), Mackenzie and his men held them as prisoners at Fort Concho through the winter.^[13]

The day after the attack (September 29, 1872), Wilson was awarded his second Medal of Honor for "distinguished conduct in action with Indians at Red River, Texas."^[14][15] He was also recognized by the U.S. Army later that fall via General Orders:^[16]

"THE ARMY. WAR DEPARTMENT.
W. W. Belknap, Secretary of War.
ADJUTANT-GENERAL'S OFFICE. Brigadier-General E. W. Townsend, Adjutant-General.

HEADQUARTERS OF THE ARMY, ADJUTANT-GENERAL'S OFFICE,
WASHINGTON, D.C., Nov. 19, 1872.
General Orders No. 99.

Reports have been received of an engagement with hostile Indians on the 29th of September, 1872, on the north fork of the Red river, near the mouth of McClellan's creek, Texas, by the expedition under the command of Colonel R. S. McKenzie, Fourth Cavalry. The following named officers are specially mentioned for gallant conduct: Major A. E. Lattimer, Fourth Cavalry; Captain John Lee, Fourth Cavalry; Captain Wirt Davis, Fourth Cavalry [et. al.]. Acting assistant surgeon Rufus Choate is commended for his care of the wounded under fire.

On recommendation of the General of the Army the Secretary of War has awarded medals of honor to the following enlisted men reported as specially distinguished in the engagement: Corporal Henry A. McMasters, Company A, Fourth Cavalry; First Sergeant William McNamara, Company F, Fourth Cavalry; Sergeant William Foster, Company F, Fourth Cavalry; Farrier David Larkin, Company F, Fourth Cavalry; Private William Rankin, Company F, Fourth Cavalry; Private Edward Branegan, Company F, Fourth Cavalry; Sergeant William Wilson, Company I, Fourth Cavalry; Corporal William O'Neil, Company I, Fourth Cavalry; Blacksmith James Pratt, Company I, Fourth Cavalry.

By command of General Sherman.

E. D. TOWNSEND, Adjutant-General.

Mackenzie and his men, however, were later accused by Clinton Smith, one of the Comanche survivors, of having committed a massacre that day.^[17]

Post-war career

Sometime during the late 1870s, Wilson took a brief break from military life to return to Philadelphia, where he worked as a railway superintendent, but after five years, he returned to active military duty, officially resuming his service in 1882.^[18]

A sergeant with the U.S. 4th Cavalry's B Troop during the early 1890s, Wilson filed reports documenting his summer 1894 supervision of national park land patrols. On July 22, 1894, he wrote to the acting superintendent of Sequoia National Park:^[19]