JOHN WARD
It was a rare daylight ambush. The lieutenant and three men moved carefully through the bush to within yards of the enemy. Confident of their numbers, the four American soldiers opened fire, killing three men. Immediately, they found themselves outnumbered. Deciding to withdraw, the three enlisted men had almost reached safety when suddenly they realized their lieutenant was not with them.
Turning, Sergeant Ward hollered, "We can't leave the lieutenant, boys!" The sergeant dashed back with his comrades close behind him. A bullet cut the sling of Ward's weapon as he reached his officer. Another bullet shattered his rifle stock. Now firing left and right, the lieutenant and his three men fought their way back through the enemy's ranks. All escaped without injury.
This inspiring feat of bravery earned the three enlisted men the Medal of Honor, perhaps the only time in the history of the United States Army that multiple Medals of Honor have been awarded.
The year was 1875. The date was 25 April.
The men were Sergeant John Ward, Trumpeter Isaac Payne, and Trooper Pompey Factor, and they were members of the Seminole-Negro Indian Scouts of the United States Cavalry. Their officer was Lieutenant John Lapham Bullis, for whom Camp Bullis, situated just northwest of San Antonio, is named.
Serving in one of the most effective fighting forces ever fielded in the State of Texas, these Seminole-Negro Scouts of the U.S. Cavalry fought the Apaches and Comanches from the 1870s until the early 1900s. Led by the very able Lieutenant Bullis, both officer and men could stay in the field for months at a time. (While Indians could be legally hired as scouts, Blacks could not, and so developed the unit's name official name: Seminole-Negro Indian Scouts.
During and after the War Between the States, the Indians who rode the Texas Frontier had become so adept at stealing and raiding that the U.S. Cavalry became desperate. They convinced the Seminole-Negroes to return from Mexico, to where they had fled rather than live on a reservation, and take up arms against the raiders.
Under terms of the agreement, each scout would receive pay and a land grant for their service. They were expected to furnish their own horses and they wore a modified uniform, more Indian than army, but they were each issued a Spencer carbine.
In one instance, a band of Lipans stole some Scout horses. Bullis and twenty scouts with Negro cavalrymen trailed the raiding party 110 miles in twenty four hours. At daybreak the scouts charged the quiet camp. In the fighting, most of it hand to hand, carbines were used as clubs against the long lances of the Indians. In fifteen minutes four Lipans were dead and the Scouts had their ponies back.
By 1882, Western Texas -- a terrifying No-Man's Land of 3,662 square miles and marauding Indians, white outlaws gangs and unbeaten rebels -- was pacified. In eleven years of service, twenty-six expeditions, twelve major engagements, and dozens of firefights, Lt. Bullis and his desert fighters lost not a man or even had one seriously wounded.
Bullis was not the first lieutenant to lead these men, but with him, the scouts at last found a man worthy of their respect. Bullis led his men, traveling with them for days, weeks, and months at a time in pursuit of their duties. He ate what they ate, drank what they drank. They shared the same risks, the same hardships. Lieutenant Bullis, they agreed, was a good man. He took care of his men.
They never numbered more than 50 men at a time, yet the Seminole-Negro Scouts distinguished themselves. Four Seminole-Negro Scouts were awarded the Medal of Honor.They still hold the highest percentage of Medal of Honor Winners of any unit in the history of the United States.
Adam Paine was awarded the Medal of Honor for "gallantry in action" on the Staked Plains. John Ward, Pompey Factor and Issac Payne were awarded the Medal for rescuing their commander, Lieutenant John Bullis. The trio rode in under enemy fire. Ward pulled Bullis up onto his horse, and they rode away to safety.
Their commanders thought highly of the Scouts. Major Bliss characterized them as "excellent hunters and trailers, brave scouts...(and) splendid fighters." Colonel Edward Hatch called them "fine trailers and good marksmen." They were said to be expert at hand-to hand combat and were well known for their incredible tracking skills. In one remarkable feat of tracking, Lt. Bullis and 39 scouts trailed Mescalero Apache raiders for 34 days over 1,260 miles.
They were not so fortunate in their dealings with the local citizens. This was, after all, unreconstructed Texas, just after the end of the Civil War. This was Texas, where Bill Longley, Cullen Baker and John Wesley Hardin rode, pistols strapped to their belts and saddles. The Moderator and Regulator Wars were just getting started. The Taylor-Sutton Feud was at fever pitch.
The Texas Department of the United States Army, in 1870, after letters initiated by U.S. Consul Agent William Schuchardt, promised the scouts their pay and a land grant. Return to Texas, they were told, and help us fight Indians and we will provide you with land to raise your families.
When Fort Clark closed in 1947, however, most of the Seminoles still living there were required to leave. The Army was no more able to help them than the local law had been able to protect the scouts and their families from the 'civilized' white men like Fisher who plotted against them.
