American Indian Patriots in the American Revolution

 

Daniel Nimham 

Stockbridge, Massachusetts began as a mission or “praying town” for Mochicans and Wappinger Indians.  The so-called Stockbridge Indians supported the Patriot cause during the Revolution vowing:

 “Wherever your armies go, there we will go; you shall always find us by your side; and if providence calls us to sacrifice our Lives in the field of battle, we will fall where you fall, and lay our bones by yours. Nor shall peace ever be made between our nation and the Red Coats.

Some of the Stockbridge Indians enlisted as early as 1775, primarily as scouts and sharpshooters, and were eventually allowed to serve in their own company.  The unit suffered devastating casualties fighting near Knightsbridge, New York (in what is now the Bronx) in 1778.

Daniel Nimham was the last chief of the Wappinger People.  He joined the Patriot cause in Boston at the age of 49.  He and his son Abraham were killed at the Battle of Knightsbridge.

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The Wounded Knee Medals

 

In July 1862, Congress authorized a Medal of Honor to be awarded to soldiers who “distinguish themselves by their gallantry in action.”  The first medals were presented in 1863, and it remains the highest decoration for valor the United States can bestow on an individual in the armed services.  There were 421 Medals of Honor awarded during the Indian Wars from 1865 to 1891.

A controversy surrounds the Medals of Honor awarded to participants in the 1890 Battle of Wounded Knee in South Dakota. Twenty such medals were awarded. In 2013 Calvin Spotted Elk, a direct descendant of Chief Spotted Elk killed at Wounded Knee, launched a petition to rescind medals of the soldiers who participated in the battle arguing that this was not a battle but a massacre.  He cited the high number of killed and wounded Lakota women and children and the one sided casualty count.  The Lakota suffered 300 killed of which 200 were women and children.  The Seventh Cavalry suffered 25 killed, many from friendly fire.

A Department of Defense review recommended in 2024 that no medals be revoked.

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