ISAAC PAYNE

Isaac Payne, Medal of Honor recipient and one of the Black Seminole scouts, was born in Mexico in 1854. He was cited for gallantry in action near the Pecos River on April 25, 1875. Trumpeter Payne was under the command of Lt. John L. Bullis, Twenty-fourth United States Infantry, while pursuing a band of twenty-five to thirty Comanche Indians crossing the Pecos River. The troops dismounted and crept up on the Indians, opened fire, killed three, and wounded another.

After engaging the Indians for forty-five minutes, and in danger of being surrounded, they withdrew to their horses. Bullis was unable to mount because his horse was skittish and had broken away, leaving him in grave danger. Sergeant Ward turned back into the Indian fire and mounted Bullis behind him. Payne and the other scouts alternately carried the lieutenant to safety. Payne and the other two scouts were awarded the Medal of Honor for "Gallantry in Action."

Payne died in 1904 and is buried in the Seminole Negro Indian Scout Cemetery at Brackettville, Texas.

See also ADAM PAINE.

See also JOHN WARD.