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U.S. Army assistant surgeon Bernard John Dowling “J.D.” Irwin rescued a kidnapped boy and 60 troopers encircled by legendary Apache warrior Cochise on this day in historical past, Feb. 13, 1861.
Irwin’s heroic volunteer effort underneath dire circumstances in the Arizona Territory has gone down in American navy lore because the first Congressional Medal of Honor action.
It came about earlier than the award even existed.
The Medal of Honor, the nation’s highest recognition of valor, was created the next yr throughout the Civil War.
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Irwin obtained the Medal of Honor in 1894.
The surgeon volunteered to guide 14 males and a mule practice on a 100-mile trek by way of a blizzard throughout the rescue effort.
Bernard “J.D.” Irwin rescued 60 males and a kidnapped boy from Apache warriors on Feb. 13, 1861. It was the first Medal of Honor action in American navy historical past. (Public Domain)
The dramatic encounter started days earlier when a band of Apaches kidnapped a younger boy who had settled the Arizona Territory together with his household, in line with quite a few sources.
The abduction led to a frantic chase by American troops from Fort Breckenridge, who have been then surrounded by the Apaches.
“Assistant Surgeon Irwin voluntarily took command of troops and attacked and defeated hostile Indians he met on the way,” reads Irwin’s Medal of Honor quotation, issued greater than 30 years later.
“Irwin was determined to now use his military skills to save his comrades.” — HomeOfHeroes.com
“Surgeon Irwin volunteered to go to the rescue of Second Lieutenant George N. Bascom, 7th Infantry, who with 60 men was trapped by Chiricahua Apaches under Cochise … Irwin and 14 men, not having horses, began the 100-mile march riding mules. After fighting and capturing Indians, recovering stolen horses and cattle, he reached Bascom’s column and help break his siege.”
HomeofHeroes.com, an internet site dedicated to Medal of Honor historical past, presents a extra dramatic account of the landmark day in navy lore.
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“Accustomed to using his medical skills to save lives, Irwin was determined to now use his military skills to save his comrades,” the outlet notes.
He was allowed solely mules and a handful of males as a result of of restricted assets at Fort Breckenridge.
(Original Caption) Cochise (1812?-1874), American Apache chief. Undated copy of a portray. (Getty Images)
“Faced with a trek of 100 miles in the midst of a winter blizzard, the logistics of the mission were as improbable as the possibility of encountering the much larger enemy force, defeating them, and rescuing the captives.”
What adopted on Feb. 13 in Apache Pass, Arizona, was an act of tactical ingenuity in the face of overwhelming odds.
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“With a carefully laid out plan and maximum placement of his 14 men, Irwin succeeded in convincing the Indian warriors that he had arrived with a much larger force, causing them to withdraw,” HomeofHeroes.com experiences.
“Bascom’s 60 men were liberated and joined Irwin and his 14 soldiers. The unified force then pursued Cochise into the mountains, where they were able to engage him and rescue the captive boy.”
Charles Bateman starred as Lt. Bernard Irwin, the U.S. Army physician who was the first recipient of the Congressional Medal of Honor, in “The Hero of Apache Pass,” an episode of the TV sequence “Death Valley Days,” 1967. (Denver Post through Getty Images)
Irwin was born in County Roscommon, Ireland, in 1830 and moved to the United States someday in the 1840s.
He joined the New York militia as a teen, studied drugs and have become a U.S. Army surgeon in 1856.
He served as a battlefield surgeon of renown in the Civil War, most notably in the Battle of Shiloh in 1862.
He was at one level throughout the conflict captured and briefly held prisoner by Confederate forces.
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Irwin in the end achieved the rank of brigadier basic.
He was extremely achieved in battlefield drugs and in surgical procedure, past simply his heroic exploits in incomes the nation’s highest award for valor.
“Plenty of Fighting Today”: Union troops of the ninth Illinois on the Battle of Shiloh throughout the Civil War. The ninth Illinois Infantry was at Shiloh, Tennessee, on April 6, 1862, when the Confederate Army of the Mississippi struck at daybreak. Oil on canvas by Keith Rocco, 1995. “Ben-Hur” creator General Lew Wallace served on the Battle of Shiloh, the place he took the blame for failures of the Union Army in the eventual northern victory. (VCG Wilson/Corbis through Getty Images)
“During the Indian Wars, Irwin served as an assistant surgeon, and was credited with performing the first surgery in the state of Arizona and inventing the first tent hospital during the Civil War,” writes Health.mil, the web site of the Military Health System and Defense Health Agency.
The web site provides, “Irwin was also an exceptional commander.”
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Irwin’s son George and grandson Stafford served in World War I and World War II, respectively, and each turned generals in the U.S. Army. He died in 1917 at age 87.
Brig. Gen. J.D. Irwin is buried on the U.S. Military Academy Cemetery in West Point.
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