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REF Thread: Indian War medal


Garth Thompson
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Garth Thompson

I finally found my numbered Indian War at the last SOS, a MNo. I'll never be able to ID but who cares. I thought the group would like to see a couple of different styles. As you look at the picture the medal on the left is a 1950's Medallic Arts strike which I believe is the last authorized striking by the government excluding the crappy GRACO current medals. The one on the right is the mint MNo. numbered strike I aquired at the SOS. The Medallic Arts is a decent enough piece but the quality and detail of a period medal is hard to beat.

Garth

 

Picture #1 Obverse

Picture #2 Reverse

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Garth-

Really nice MNo. A very tough medal to find. Your excellent photos clearly tell how you tell an old strike campaign medal from a newer one - you can see a second inner "ring" around the edge of the MNo. medal on the right.

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Garth Thompson
Garth-

Really nice MNo. A very tough medal to find. Your excellent photos clearly tell how you tell an old strike campaign medal from a newer one - you can see a second inner "ring" around the edge of the MNo. medal on the right.

It appears you've really added to your medal collection in the past few weeks!

Kurt

Kurt,

I've had a decent run of luck recently on medals but the IW was the topper. I've been looking for a decent numbered one for literally years. Last year I missed a Span Am/IW group to an officer with paperwork, minis and ribbon bar by about 10 steps. This year the medal gods smiled on me. I found the IW in a piled up case of miscellaneous stuff for $700.

Garth

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  • 4 years later...

Here's an Indian Wars medal, no number (sadly) but really nice, sharp detail, check out the feathers on the eagle's head & wings and the warrior as well. The arrowhead wreath is also quite sharp.

 

It looks like a WW I Vic brooch on it, maybe added (perhaps to deceive). The brooch looks to be a WW I Vic style, not at all typical of this medal, and the ribbon drape is no doubt replaced. I'm not all that familiar with "Studley" strikes but I wouldn't be at all surprised if this was the case with this piece. It would be rather nice to have a piece from him! The inner ring is quite evident, so perhaps it is indeed from the 1930's.

 

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  • 1 year later...
  • 10 months later...

Here is a traceable Indian Wars campaign medal to George Rodney Smith New York, New York

West Point from 1870...number 31 in his class

2nd Lt 12th Inf 16 June 1875

1st Lt June 1881

Major Paymaster 5 July 1882

Frontier duty 1875-1881 ( in the 1878 Bannock Wars)

Cuba 1898-99

Brig Gen 1912-13 Paymaster General USA

Retired 1913 Brig General

 

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At some point he re-ribboned his Indian Wars medal...

 

 

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  • 9 months later...
  • 3 months later...
Bill_Carman

Indian Wars Campaign Medal, No. 1276, awarded to Frank Mayer, was issued for service in the 1st Cavalry Regiment, from December 1890 to January 1891. The regiment took part in the Pine Ridge Reservation operations against the Sioux in the winter of 1890–1891, but was not brought into actual contact with them.

 

Indian War Medal

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Indian Wars Medal, No. 333, awarded to William Young.

 

The medal was approved in January 1905 and authorized for wear in 1907. It was awarded to a variety of campaigns and engagements against the Indian tribes throughout the western states between 1965 and 1891. The medal is very finely detailed, and it has been re-draped with the second style ribbon and has a replacement brooch. The first style ribbon, red with darker red edges, it was replaced with the second style, red with inset black stripes in 1917.

 

The medal was awarded to Corporal William Young on 18 July 1908, for campaign action against the Apache Indians in Arizona, 1885 and 1886, while serving with Troop I, 6th Cavalry Regiment. Young enlisted 15 May 1885 at Denver, Colorado and was then assigned to Troop I of the 6th Cavalry, he was discharged on 14 May 1890 at Fort Wingate, New Mexico.

 

Young enlisted again in 28 May 1891, this time assigned to Company D, 14th US Infantry, and stayed with that unit until 11 August 1900. While with the 14th Infantry he saw service in Alaska, and also the Philippines. He also received the Philippine Campaign Medal No. 4425, whereabouts unknown.

 

Young enlisted again 26 October 1900, this time to the Ordnance Detachment at Rock Island Arsenal, and he remained there until his retirement 27 August 1914. William Young served over 30 years in the Army total. He passed away 3 November 1936, and he is buried at the Soldier's Home National Cemetery in Washington DC.

 

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I purchased this unnumbered IW medal a while back and having submerged myself in the background to this medal and it's issue in an intense crash course of reading, trawling the web etc etc I'd value members opinions as to what this medal could be...a Studely perhaps or a very late US Mint variety? It has the feel of an older medal and it's definitely not one of the horrible modern copies. Patina is nice, details very crisp - but it has a much thicker outer ring to the striking. (The old early 1900 issues look a lot thinner.) The planchet is 2.83mm as opposed to 2.54mm on other US Mint campaigns I already have.

 

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  • 2 months later...

Samuel Bismukes served in the United States 9th and 10th Cavalry, known as the Buffalo Soldiers, during the Indian Wars and received the Indian Wars Campaign Medal number 759. He served in many different areas of the west including Fort Apache, Arizona Territory, Fort Leavenworth, Kansas, Bonita Canon, Arizona Territory, Fort Verde, Arizona Territory among others. Bismukes also served in the Spanish American War and the Philippine Insurrection.

Dick

 

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  • 3 years later...

Indian Wars No.138 Campaign Medal

I just picked up this traceable Indian Wars Campaign Medal..Col. John F Guilfoyle...

 

 

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His history compiled by Cullum...

Military History...

Cadet at the Military Academy, July 1, 1872, to June 14, 1877, when he was graduated and promoted in the Army to

 

Second Lieut., 9th Cavalry, June 15, 1877.

 

Served: on leave of absence and awaiting orders, June 15, 1877 to Jan. 1, 1878; on frontier duty at Socorro, Tex., to Mar. 13, 1878, on Ute Expedition and Escorting Boundary Commissioners, Mar. 13 to Nov. 10, 1878, Camp Lewis, Col., Nov. 10 to Dec. 13, 1878, Las Animas City, Col., to Feb. 13, 1879, Ft. Garland, Col., to May 23, 1879, Escorting the Lieut.‑General, to June 25, 1879, Scouting and Acting Engineer Officer of District of New Mexico (Acting Assistant Adjutant-General, Oct. 7, 1879, to June 10, 1880), to Nov. 10, 1880, Ft. Stanton, N. M., to Dec. 2, 1880, Ft. Craig, N. M., to Jan. 13, 1881, in the field (commanding Indian Scouts, May to Nov., 1881), to Nov., 1881,

 

(First Lieut., 9th Cavalry, Nov. 1, 1881)

 

Ft. Riley, Kan., and Scouting, to June 1, 1883, Ft. Lewis, Col., and Scouting, to Oct. 5, 1883, Ft. Riley, Kan. (Regimental Quartermaster, May 17, 1884, to Jan. 8, 1885, and Adjutant, to May 9, 1888), to June 11, 1885, Ft. McKinney, Wy., to May 3, 1887, and Ft. Robinson, Neb., to Sep. 21, 1888; on Recruiting Service, Oct. 6, 1888, to Feb. 28, 1889; and in garrison at Ft. Leavenworth, Kan., to .

 

Vol. IV

p285 [supplement, Vol. IV: 1890‑1900]

 

Military History.

 

(Brevet 1st Lieutenant, Feb. 27, 1890, for gallant services in action against Indians at White Sands, N. M., July 19, 1881; in the San Andreas Mountains, N. M., July 25, 1881; and at Monica Springs, N. M., Aug. 3, 1881)

 

Served: At Fort Leavenworth, Kan., to Sept., 1890; at Fort Robinson, Neb., to Nov., 1890; Adjutant of Major Indicates a West Point graduate and gives his Class.Henry's battalion in the field in South Dakota during the campaign against Sioux Indians to Jan., 1891, being engaged at Pine Ridge Agency and White Clay Creek, S. D., Dec. 30, 1890;

 

(Captain of Cavalry, 9th Cavalry, Feb. 25, 1891)

 

garrison duty at Fort Robinson, Neb., to July 25, 1895; in the field in Idaho during miner strikes to Aug. 12, 1895; duty at Fort Washakie, Wyo., to Sept. 12, 1895; Professor of Military Science and Tactics at the University of Nebraska, Lincoln, Neb., Oct. 1, 1895 to Oct. 1, 1897; garrison duty at Fort Washakie, Wyo., to April 20, 1898; at Port Tampa, Fla., to Aug., 1898; at Montauk Point, N. Y., to Sept., 1898; at Fort Du Chesne, Utah, to

 

Vol. V

p261 [supplement, Vol. V: 1900‑1910]

 

Military History. Served: At Fort Duchesne, Utah, to July, 1900; in Philippine Islands, Sept. 1, 1900 to May 15, 1901.

 

(Major, 12th Cavalry, Feb. 28, 1901)

 

At Fort Sam Houston, Texas, June, 1901, to Feb., 1902; at Fort McIntosh, Tex., Feb. to May, 1902; at Fort Clark, Texas, May to Oct., 1902; at Washington, D. C., Nov., 1902 to Aug., 1904.

 

(Lieut.‑Colonel, 7th Cavalry, Oct. 1, 1906)

 

In Philippine Islands, Sept., 1904 to June, 1907; at Fort Riley, Kansas, July, 1907 to present date; Inspector of Rifle Practice, United States Army, and in charge of the affairs of the Militia of the United States, from 1903 to April 1, 1904; Assistant Adjutant-General by detail, April 1, 1904 to Oct. 1, 1906; at Fort Riley, Kas., from about Aug. 10, 1907 to

 

Vol. VI

p237 [supplement, Vol. VI: 1910‑1920]

 

(John Francis Guilfoyle, Born Oct. 1, 1853.)

 

Military History.

 

Lieut.‑Colonel, 7th Cavalry, Oct. 1, 1906.

 

At Fort Riley, Kans., with regiment, June, 1907, to February, 1911; in camp at San Antonio, Texas, with Maneuver Division, February to

 

(Colonel, 9th Cavalry, March 11, 1911)

 

July, 1911; at Fort D. A. Russell, Wyo., with regiment, July, 1911, to September, 1912; at Douglas, Arizona, on border patrol, September, 1912, to October, 1915 (upon his relief was presented by the Chamber of Commerce of Douglas with a Resolution of Appreciation, Oct. 6, 1915);

 

(Transferred to 4th Cavalry, Oct. 1, 1915)

 

at Honolulu, Hawaii, with regiment, October, 1915, to Feb. 1, 1917.

 

Colonel, U. S. A., Retired, Feb. 1, 1917,

At His Own Request, After Over 40 Years' Service.

 

Vol. VII

p142 [supplement, Vol. VII: 1920‑1930]

 

Military History:

 

Colonel, U. S. A., Retired, Feb. 1, 1917,

At His Own Request, After Over 40 Years' Service.

 

p143 Died, Oct. 27, 1921, at New Haven, Conn.: Aged 68.

 

Portrait and obituary in Annual Report, Association of Graduates, for 1922.

 

Cited posthumously "for gallantry in action against hostile Sioux Indians near Catholic Mission at White Clay Creek, South Dakota, Dec. 30, 1890."

 

Buried, Arlington National Cemetery,

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Robert,

Excellent research on the officer who earned this campaign medal while leading Buffalo Soldier of the 9th Cavalry. According to the book Black Soldiers in Jim Crow Texas, 1899-1917 By Garna L. Christian, Garna L.. Christian

COL Guilfoyle respected the men he led; he spent 22 years with the regiment. It seems that he stood up for the character of the men he rode with across the western half of the United States. Might be the reason he served in Hawaii for his last tour before retiring.

https://books.google.com/books?id=NP_Jtmmn-rcC&pg=PA99&lpg=PA99&dq=Col.+John+F+Guilfoyle&source=bl&ots=yZFBwKuHaQ&sig=aAnVmaYChI9y2VDMxB_TRhu1Jtk&hl=en&sa=X&ved=2ahUKEwifqfi66tfeAhXLct8KHRAgBMYQ6AEwB3oECAAQAQ#v=onepage&q=Col.%20John%20F%20Guilfoyle&f=false

 

Thanks for sharing this soldier's service, courage, story, and memory. See you next week.

John

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  • 1 year later...

Information from the New Medal Letters book says numbered Indian Wars medals were produced from 1908 to 1936. Initial production was from the US Mint. Later contracts were done by private companies like Consolidated Jewelers and Northern Stamping. All of these medals were observed with wrap brooches having different types of pin retainers.

 

There are later unnumbered contracts, most with crimp brooches, at least one with markings from Medallic Arts Co. Why the government contracted for more medals post WW2 is unknown.

 

A numbered planchet could be reribboned with a slot brooch as a replacement. In this case, close up shots of the medal front and back and the number would be needed to identify it as an early medal.

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