John Tracy (Medal of Honor)

Private John Tracy (December 28, 1848 – May 29, 1918), born Henry G. Nabers, was an Irish-born soldier in the U.S. Army who served with the 8th U.S. Cavalry during the Apache Wars. He was one of thirty-two men received the Medal of Honor for gallantry in fighting Cochise and the Apache Indians in the Chiricahua Mountains of Arizona, later known as the "Campaign of the Rocky Mesa", on October 20, 1869.

John Tracy
Birth nameHenry G. Nabers
Born(1848-12-28)December 28, 1848
Dublin, Ireland
DiedMay 29, 1918(1918-05-29) (aged 69)
St. Louis, Missouri, United States
Place of burial
Calvary Cemetery and Mausoleum
Allegiance United States
Service/branchUnited States Army
Years of servicec. 1869–1870
RankPrivate
Unit8th U.S. Cavalry
Battles/warsIndian Wars
Apache Wars
AwardsMedal of Honor

Biography

Henry G. Nabers was born in Dublin, Ireland, on December 28, 1848. He later emigrated to the United States and, under the alias John Tracy, enlisted as a private in the United States Army in either Chicago, Illinois or St. Paul, Minnesota.

He was assigned to Company G of the 8th Cavalry Regiment and sent to the Arizona Territory where he saw considerable action during the Apache Wars. He particularly distinguished himself during the campaign against Cochise in late-1869. On October 5, he was part of a small cavalry detachment from Fort Bowie, under the command of Lieutenant William H. Winters and Captain Reuben F. Bernard, in pursuit of an Apache raiding party. Earlier that day, these Apaches had massacred a stage coach en route to Tucson and then attacked a group of cowboys in Sulphur Springs Valley. His unit eventually caught up to them at Cochise's stronghold in Chiricahua Mountains, above Rucker Canyon, where they engaged in a major battle, later known as the "Campaign of the Rocky Mesa", on October 20, 1869.

Tracy was cited for "gallantry in action" and one of thirty-two members of the 1st and 8th U.S. Cavalry who received the Medal of Honor four months later.[1][2][3][4][5][6][7][8][9]

He died on May 29, 1918, at age 69 and was interred at the Calvary Cemetery and Mausoleum in St. Louis, Missouri. Tracy remained buried in an unmarked grave for nearly a century before a campaign, headed by Connie Nisinger in the spring of 2003, eventually resulted in an official Medal of Honor headstone being placed at his grave site.[10]

Medal of Honor citation

Rank and organization: Private, Company G, 8th U.S. Cavalry. Place and date: At Chiricahua Mountains, Ariz., 20 October 1869. Entered service at: St. Paul, Minn. Birth: Ireland. Date of issue: 14 February 1870.

Citation:

Bravery in action with Indians.[11]

See also

References
  1. Beyer, Walter F. and Oscar Frederick Keydel, ed. Deeds of Valor: From Records in the Archives of the United States Government; how American Heroes Won the Medal of Honor; History of Our Recent Wars and Explorations, from Personal Reminiscences and Records of Officers and Enlisted Men who Were Rewarded by Congress for Most Conspicuous Acts of Bravery on the Battle-field, on the High Seas and in Arctic Explorations. Vol. 2. Detroit: Perrien-Keydel Company, 1906. (p. 553)
  2. Senate Committee on Veterans Affairs. Medal of Honor recipients, 1863–1978, 96th Cong., 1st sess. Washington, DC: US Government Printing Office, 1979. (pp. 974, 1021)
  3. Hannings, Bud. A Portrait of the Stars and Stripes. Glenside, Pennsylvania: Seniram Publishing, 1988. (p. 400) ISBN 0922564000
  4. O'Neal, Bill. Fighting Men of the Indian Wars: A Biographical Encyclopedia of the Mountain Men, Soldiers, Cowboys, and Pioneers Who Took Up Arms During America's Westward Expansion. Stillwater, Oklahoma: Barbed Wire Press, 1991. (p. 26) ISBN 093526907X
  5. Owens, Ron. Medal of Honor: Historical Facts & Figures. Paducah, Kentucky: Turner Publishing Company, 2004. (p. 192) ISBN 1563119951
  6. Yenne, Bill. Indian Wars: The Campaign for the American West. Yardley, Pennsylvania: Westholme Publishing, 2006. (p. 141) ISBN 1594160163
  7. Nunnally, Michael L. American Indian Wars: A Chronology of Confrontations Between Native Peoples and Settlers and the United States Military, 1500s–1901. Jefferson, North Carolina: McFarland, 2007. ISBN 0786429364
  8. Sterner, C. Douglas (1999). "MOH Citation for John Tracy". MOH Recipients: Indian Campaigns. HomeofHeroes.com. Retrieved June 30, 2010.
  9. Army Times Publishing Company. "Military Times Hall of Valor: John Tracy". Awards and Citations: Medal of Honor. MilitaryTimes.com. Retrieved June 30, 2010.
  10. Sterner, C. Douglas (1999). "Photo of Grave site of MOH Recipient John Tracy". Medal of Honor recipient Gravesites In The State of Missouri. HomeofHeroes.com. Retrieved June 30, 2010.
  11. "Medal of Honor recipients". Indian War Campaigns. United States Army Center of Military History. June 8, 2009. Archived from the original on August 3, 2013. Retrieved June 29, 2009.

Further reading
  • Konstantin, Phil. This Day in North American Indian History: Important Dates in the History of North America's Native Peoples for Every Calendar Day. New York: Da Capo Press, 2002. ISBN 0306811707
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