Jacob Trautman

First Sergeant Jacob Trautman (1840 – November 7, 1898) was a German-born soldier in the U.S. Army. His service included an enlistment with a Pennsylvania cavalry regiment during the Civil War and with the 7th Cavalry Regiment during the Indian Wars. He was one of twenty men who received the Medal of Honor for his actions at the Battle of Wounded Knee, now called the Wounded Knee Massacre, and afterward.

Jacob Trautman
Born1840
Germany
DiedNovember 7, 1898(1898-11-07) (aged 58)
Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, United States
Place of burial
South Side Cemetery
Allegiance United States
Service/branchUnited States Army
Years of service
  • 1861–1865
  • 1871?–1891
RankFirst sergeant
Unit
Battles/wars
AwardsMedal of Honor

Biography

Jacob Trautman was born in Germany, in 1840 to Jacob and Margaret Trautman.[1] He emigrated to the United States.

Trautman made a claim for a pension to the pensions office of the War Department based on service with Company E and Company L, Pennsylvania Cavalry and with Troop I, 7th Cavalry Regiment[2] Trautman enlisted in the 5th Pennsylvania Cavalry as a private and was discharged as a sergeant.[3] Trautman mustered into Company L, 5th Cavalry, Pennsylvania Volunteers on August 9, 1861; he was promoted to corporal and later to sergeant; and was transferred to Company E on June 5, 1865.[4] In Company E, Trautman served as a sergeant and mustered out with the company on August 7, 1865; his individual record is annotated "Vet."[5]

Trautman enlisted with I Troop, 7th Cavalry Regiment on January 4, 1876, in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. This enlistment was his second but there is no identification of the nature of his first term (Civil War or some service between 1865 and 1876). He was discharged on January 3, 1881, at Fort Totten, Dakota Territory as a first sergeant.[6] Trautman re-enlisted immediately on January 4, 1881, at Fort Totten and served until January 3, 1886, when he was discharged at Fort Meade, Dakota Territory as a first sergeant.[7]

Trautman next re-enlisted at Fort Totten on January 4, 1886.[8]

Wounded Knee Massacre

He was part of a force sent to arrest the Sioux chieftain Big Foot and disarm his 350 followers; he was among the cavalry troopers who, on the morning of December 29, 1890, surrounded his camp on the banks of Wounded Knee Creek. Trautman distinguished himself by killing an armed Sioux warrior "at close quarters", and was among the twenty cavalrymen who received the Medal of Honor.[9][10][11] His term of service expired on January 3, 1891, at the Pine Ridge Agency, South Dakota.[8] Although he was entitled to retire with pension, Troutman re-enlisted for the last time on January 4, 1891, while at the Pine Ridge Agency; he retired on August 3, 1891.[12]

Later life and death

Trautman returned to Pittsburgh where he died at his home at 21 Carson Street on November 7, 1898, from a cerebral hemorrhage at the age of 58.[13][1] He was buried at South Side Cemetery.

Medal of Honor citation

Killed a hostile Indian at close quarters, and, although entitled to retirement from service, remained to the close of the campaign.[14]

Controversy
Mass Grave for the Dead Lakota After the Engagement at Wounded Knee

There have been several attempts by various parties to rescind the Medals of Honor awarded in connection with the Battle of Wounded Knee.[15][16][17] Proponents claim that the engagement was in-fact a massacre and not a battle, due to the high number of killed and wounded Lakota women and children and the very one-sided casualty counts. Estimates of the Lakota losses indicate 150–300 killed, of which up to 200 were women and children. Additionally, as many as 51 were wounded. In contrast, the 7th Cavalry suffered 25 killed and 39 wounded, many being the result of friendly fire.[18][19][20]

Calvin Spotted Elk, direct descendant of Chief Spotted Elk killed at Wounded Knee, launched a petition to rescind medals from the soldiers who participated in the battle.[21]

The Army has also been criticized more generally for the seemingly disproportionate number of Medals of Honor awarded in connection with the battle.[22] For comparison, 20 Medals were awarded at Wounded Knee, 21 at the Battle of Cedar Creek, and 20 at the Battle of Antietam.[22][23] Respectively, Cedar Creek and Antietam involved 52,712 and 113,000 troops, suffering 8,674 and 22,717 casualties.[24][25][26][27][28] Wounded Knee, however, involved 610 combatants and resulted in as many as 705 casualties (including non-combatants).[29][18]

See also

References
  1. "Pennsylvania, Pittsburgh City Deaths, 1870-1905," database with images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:XZ7K-V3P : 8 December 2014), Jacob Trautman, 07 Nov 1898; citing v 92 p 201, Allegheny County Courthouse, Pittsburgh; FHL microfilm 505,863.
  2. "United States Index to General Correspondence of the Pension Office, 1889-1904," database with images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:KDTK-71H : 4 December 2014), Jacob Trautman, ; citing NARA microfilm publication M686 (Washington, D.C.: National Archives and Records Administration, n.d.); FHL microfilm 1,528,013.
  3. "Soldier Details". The Civil War. National Park Service (US). Retrieved 4 July 2017.
  4. "5th Cavalry Pennsylvania Volunteers Company L". PA Roots. Pennsylvania Resources. Retrieved 4 July 2017.
  5. "5th Cavalry Pennsylvania Volunteers Company E". PA Roots. Pennsylvania Resources. Retrieved 4 July 2017.
  6. "United States Registers of Enlistments in the U.S. Army, 1798-1914," database with images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:QJDR-37RV : 24 May 2014), Jacob Traulman, 04 Jan 1876; citing p. 36, volume 076, Pittsburgh, , Pennsylvania, United States, NARA microfilm publication M233 (Washington D.C.: National Archives and Records Administration, n.d.), roll 40; FHL microfilm 350,346.
  7. "United States Registers of Enlistments in the U.S. Army, 1798-1914," database with images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:QJDR-7FDQ : 24 May 2014), Jacob Trautmann, 04 Jan 1881; citing p. 19, volume 082, Fort Totten, , Dakota Territory, United States, NARA microfilm publication M233 (Washington D.C.: National Archives and Records Administration, n.d.), roll 43; FHL microfilm 350,349.
  8. "United States Registers of Enlistments in the U.S. Army, 1798-1914," database with images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:QJD5-L5Y9 : 24 May 2014), Jacob Trautman, 04 Jan 1886; citing p. 199, volume 086, Fort Totten, , Dakota Territory, United States, NARA microfilm publication M233 (Washington D.C.: National Archives and Records Administration, n.d.), roll 45; FHL microfilm 1,319,378.
  9. Senate Committee on Veterans Affairs. Medal of Honor recipients, 1863-1978, 96th Cong., 1st sess. Washington, DC: US Government Printing Office, 1979. (pg. 1021)
  10. Sterner, C. Douglas (1999). "MOH Citation for Jacob Trautman". MOH Recipients: Indian Campaigns. HomeofHeroes.com. Retrieved June 30, 2010.
  11. Army Times Publishing Company. "Military Times Hall of Valor: Jacob Trautman". Awards and Citations: Medal of Honor. MilitaryTimes.com. Retrieved June 30, 2010.
  12. "United States Registers of Enlistments in the U.S. Army, 1798-1914," database with images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:QJDR-WKRZ : 24 May 2014), Jacob Trautmann, 04 Jan 1891; citing p. 261, volume 088, Pine Ridge, , South Dakota, United States, NARA microfilm publication M233 (Washington D.C.: National Archives and Records Administration, n.d.), roll 46; FHL microfilm 1,319,379.
  13. "Gather to Rest". The Pittsburgh Press (Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania). Nov 9, 1898. p. 11. Retrieved June 28, 2017 – via Newspapers.com. icon of an open green padlock
  14. "Trautman, Jacob". Congressional Medal of Honor Society. Retrieved May 12, 2020.
  15. Dana Lone Hill (February 18, 2013). "The Wounded Knee medals of honor should be rescinded". the Guardian. Retrieved March 1, 2015.
  16. "No Medals for Massacre: Close the Open Wound of Wounded Knee". The Huffington Post. February 12, 2013. Retrieved March 1, 2015.
  17. "Lakota~WOUNDED KNEE: A Campaign to Rescind Medals: story, pictures and information". Footnote.com. Retrieved August 17, 2011.
  18. "Plains Humanities: Wounded Knee Massacre". Retrieved December 9, 2014.
  19. "The 110th Anniversary of the Wounded Knee Massacre". perspicuity.net. Retrieved March 1, 2015.
  20. "Wagner...Part Two". dickshovel.com. Retrieved March 1, 2015.
  21. Joseph Huff-Hannon (February 12, 2013). "No Medals for massacre: Close the Open Wound of Wounded Knee". Huffington Post.
  22. Green, Jerry (1994). "The Medals of Wounded Knee". Nebraska State Historical Society, also available in Nebraska History #75, pp. 200–208. Nebraska State Historical Society History.
  23. Owens, Ronald J. (2004) Medal of Honor: Historical facts and figures. Turner Publishing Company
  24. Whitehorne, p. 15. The NPS battle summary lists Union strength of 31,945. Cullen, p. 111, states 35,000 Union effectives, including 10,000 cavalry. Salmon, p. 368, and Kennedy, p. 319, state 32,000 Union.
  25. Whitehorne, p. 17. The NPS battle summary and Kennedy, p. 319, list Confederate strength of 21,000. Cullen, p. 112, states 18,000 Confederate effectives, including 4,000 cavalry.
  26. Wert, p. 246, Eicher, p. 752. Lewis, p. 288, reports Union totals as 5,764 (569 killed, 3,425 wounded, 1,770 missing), Confederates 3,060 (1,860 killed and wounded, 1,200 prisoners). Kennedy, p. 323, reports 5,672 Union, 2,910 Confederate. The NPS battle summary reports 5,665 Union, 2,910 Confederate. Salmon, p. 372, reports Union "almost 5,700", Confederate "almost 3,000."
  27. Eicher, p. 363. Sears, p. 173, cites 75,000 Union troops, with an effective strength of 71,500, with 300 guns; on p. 296, he states that the 12,401 Union casualties were 25% of those who went into action and that McClellan committed "barely 50,000 infantry and artillerymen to the contest"; p. 389, he cites Confederate effective strength of "just over 38,000," including A.P. Hill's division, which arrived in the afternoon. Priest, p. 343, cites 87,164 men present in the Army of the Potomac, with 53,632 engaged, and 30,646 engaged in the Army of Northern Virginia. Luvaas and Nelson, p. 302, cite 87,100 Union engaged, 51,800 Confederate. Harsh, Sounding the Shallows, pp. 201–202, analyzes the historiography of the figures, and shows that Ezra A. Carman (a battlefield historian who influenced some of these sources) used "engaged" figures; the 38,000 excludes Pender's and Field's brigades, roughly half the artillery, and forces used to secure objectives behind the line.
  28. Sears, pp. 294–96; Cannan, p. 201. Confederate casualties are estimates because reported figures include undifferentiated casualties at South Mountain and Shepherdstown; Sears remarks that "there is no doubt that a good many of the 1,771 men listed as missing were in fact dead, buried uncounted in unmarked graves where they fell." McPherson, p. 129, gives ranges for the Confederate losses: 1,546–2,700 dead, 7,752–9,024 wounded. He states that more than 2,000 of the wounded on both sides died from their wounds. Priest, p. 343, reports 12,882 Union casualties (2,157 killed, 9,716 wounded, 1,009 missing or captured) and 11,530 Confederate (1,754 killed, 8,649 wounded, 1,127 missing or captured). Luvaas and Nelson, p. 302, cite Union casualties of 12,469 (2,010 killed, 9,416 wounded, 1,043 missing or captured) and 10,292 Confederate (1,567 killed, 8,725 wounded for September 14–20, plus approximately 2,000 missing or captured).
  29. Brown, p. 178, Brown states that at the army camp, "the Indians were carefully counted." Utley, p. 204, gives 120 men, 230 women and children; there is no indication how many were warriors, old men, or incapacitated sick like Big Foot.
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