John Clancy (Medal of Honor)

John E. Clancy was an American soldier who served with the 1st Artillery Regiment. He was awarded the Medal of Honor for bravery at the Battle of Wounded Knee, now called the Wounded Knee Massacre.

John Clancy
Bornc. 1868
New York, U.S.
Died(1932-07-11)July 11, 1932 (aged 63–64)
Allegiance United States
Service/branchU.S. Army
Years of service1887 - 1892; 1892 - 1894
Highest rankFirst sergeant
Unit1st Artillery Regiment
Battles
AwardsMedal of Honor
Gravestone at Fort Riley

Service

Born in New York and raised in Washington,[1] Clancy enlisted in Company E, 1st Artillery Regiment on August 2, 1887 (giving his age as 19) at "Vanco Bks" (possibly Vancouver Barracks).[2]

Wounded Knee Massacre

On December 29, 1890, Clancy was present at the Wounded Knee Massacre and was cited for bravery in twice voluntarily rescuing wounded comrades from under enemy fire; he was later awarded the Medal of Honor for his actions.[3]

Later Service

He was discharged at Fort Sheridan, Illinois on August 1, 1892, as a private.[2] Clancy re-enlisted in Company E on August 14, 1892, still at Fort Sheridan, and was dishonorably discharged at Fort Sheridan on September 26, 1894.[4]

Citation

December 29, 1890 Private (then musician) John Clancy, Battery E, 1st Artillery: For bravery in twice voluntarily rescuing wounded comrades from under fire of the enemy during action against hostile Sioux Indians at Wounded Knee Creek, South Dakota. (Medal of Honor)[3]

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.[5][6][7] 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.[8][9][10]

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.[11]

The Army has also been criticized more generally for the seemingly disproportionate number of Medals of Honor awarded in connection with the battle.[12] For comparison, 20 Medals were awarded at Wounded Knee, 21 at the Battle of Cedar Creek, and 20 at the Battle of Antietam.[12][13] Respectively, Cedar Creek and Antietam involved 52,712 and 113,000 troops, suffering 8,674 and 22,717 casualties.[14][15][16][17][18] Wounded Knee, however, involved 610 combatants and resulted in as many as 705 casualties (including non-combatants).[19][8]

References
  1. "Marriage Return". No. U-1031. Walla Walla, Washington. November 11, 1904. Retrieved 5 October 2022.
  2. "United States Registers of Enlistments in the U.S. Army, 1798-1914," database with images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:VRQ6-9XL : 4 December 2014), John Clancy, 02 Aug 1887; citing p. 204, volume 84, Vanco Bks, , , United States, NARA microfilm publication M233 (Washington D.C.: National Archives and Records Administration, n.d.), roll 44; FHL microfilm 1,319,377.
  3. "The Army, Honors to Officers and Men". Army and Navy Journal. May 21, 1892. p. 674. Retrieved 15 July 2017.
  4. "United States Registers of Enlistments in the U.S. Army, 1798-1914," database with images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:QJDR-WQL4 : 24 May 2014), John Clancy, 14 Aug 1892; citing p. 111, volume 088, Fort Sheridan, , Illinois, United States, NARA microfilm publication M233 (Washington D.C.: National Archives and Records Administration, n.d.), roll 46; FHL microfilm 1,319,379.
  5. Dana Lone Hill (February 18, 2013). "The Wounded Knee medals of honor should be rescinded". the Guardian. Retrieved March 1, 2015.
  6. "No Medals for Massacre: Close the Open Wound of Wounded Knee". The Huffington Post. February 12, 2013. Retrieved March 1, 2015.
  7. "Lakota~WOUNDED KNEE: A Campaign to Rescind Medals: story, pictures and information". Footnote.com. Retrieved August 17, 2011.
  8. "Plains Humanities: Wounded Knee Massacre". Retrieved December 9, 2014.
  9. "The 110th Anniversary of the Wounded Knee Massacre". perspicuity.net. Retrieved March 1, 2015.
  10. "Wagner...Part Two". dickshovel.com. Retrieved March 1, 2015.
  11. Joseph Huff-Hannon (February 12, 2013). "No Medals for massacre: Close the Open Wound of Wounded Knee". Huffington Post.
  12. 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.
  13. Owens, Ronald J. (2004) Medal of Honor: Historical facts and figures. Turner Publishing Company
  14. 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.
  15. 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.
  16. 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."
  17. 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.
  18. 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).
  19. 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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