Gresham, John Chowning, COL

Deceased

Photo In Uniform

Service Details

Last Rank
Colonel

Last Service Branch
Cavalry

Primary Unit
1915-1918, HHD, California Army National Guard

Service Years
1876 - 1918

Last Photo

Personal Details

Home State

Virginia

Year of Birth
1851

This Military Service Page was created/owned by COL Samuel Russell to remember Gresham, John Chowning (MOH), COL USA(Ret).

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Contact Info

Home Town Lancaster County
Date of Passing Sep 02, 1926
Location of Interment San Francisco National Cemetery (VA) - San Francisco, California

Official Badges

Unofficial Badges

Military Associations and Other Affiliations

National Society Sons of the American Revolution


	1894, National Society Sons of the American Revolution - Assoc. Page
	1895, Medal of Honor Recipients - Assoc. Page
	1926, National Cemetery Administration (NCA)

Additional Information

Last Known Activity:

General Order No. 100, Adjutant General’s Office, Dec. 17, 1891
The Major General Commanding takes pleasure in publishing in orders to the Army the names of the following officers and enlisted men who, during the year 1890 and in the recent campaign in South Dakota, distinguished themselves by ‘”specially meritorious acts or conduct:”

December 29 and 30, 1890. 1st Lieutenant John C. Gresham, 7th Cavalry: For coolness and gallantry while in charge of a detachment of Troop B, in actions against hostile Sioux Indians in the ravine at Wounded Knee Creek, South Dakota, on the 29th, and on the crest near the Catholic Mission, on White Clay Creek, South Dakota, on the 30th.

Other Comments:

2626.. (Born Va.).... JOHN C. GRESHAM (Ap'd Va.). .34

Medal of Honor for distinguished gallantry in voluntarily leading a party into a ravine to dislodge Indians concealed therein, in action at Wounded Knee Creek, S. D., Dec. 29, 1890, while serving as 1st Lieutenant, 7th Cavalry.

Military History. — Cadet at the Military Academy, July 1, 1872, to June 14, 1876, when he was graduated and promoted in the Army to

(Second Lieut., 3d Cavalry, June 15, 1876.)

(Transferred to 7th Cavalry, June 26,1876)

Served: on frontier duty at Ft. Lincoln, Dak., Sep. 28 to Oct. 20,1876, — Standing Rock Agency, Dak., to Nov. 9, 1876, —Ft. Rice, Dak., Nov. 11, 1876, to Apr. 19, 1877, —Nez Perces Expedition, May 1 to Nov. 20,1877, being engaged in the Action of Canon Creek, Mon., Sep. 13, 1877, —Ft. Lincoln, Dak., Nov. 20, 1877, to July 4, 1878, — Scouting,

(First Lieut., 7th Cavalry, June 28, 1878)

and at Bear Butte, Dak., to Sep. 20,1878, — and Standing Rock Agency, Oct. 4-29, 1878; on leave of absence, Oct. 29, 1878, to Mar. 1, 1879; on frontier duty at Ft. A. Lincoln, Dak., to Mar. 5, 1879,—detached service at Ft. Vancouver, Wash., to May 24, 1879, — Ft. Yates, Dak. (guarding construction parties of the Northern Pacific Railroad, June 1 to Nov. 27, 1880), to July 24, 1884, —and Rifle Competition, to Sep., 1884; as Professor of Military Science and Tactics at Virginia Agricultural College, Sep. 27, 1884, to Feb. 8, 1887 ; on sick leave of absence, to Aug. 6, 1887; and on frontier duty at Ft. Meade, Dak., to June 1, 1888, — and March to and at Ft. Riley, Kan. (in the field in South Dakota in campaign against Sioux Indians, Nov., 1890 to Jan., 1891, being engaged in the action at Wounded Knee, Dec. 29, and at White Clay Creek, S. D., Dec. 30, 1899, and was commended in General Order No. 100, Adjutant-General's Office, Dec. 17, 1891, for coolness and gallantry in those actions),

(Captain of Cavalry, 7th Cavalry, April 8, 1892)

to May 17, 1895; at Fort Grant, Ariz., to Oct. 11, 1896, and at Fort Bayard, N. M., to Dec. 14, 1896. — Professor of Military Science and Tactics at the North Carolina College of Agriculture and Fine Arts, West Raleigh, N. C, Dec. 21, 1896 to June, 1898, being also on mustering duty at Raleigh, N. C, in May, 1898. — Garrison duty at Fort Grant, Ariz., June 24 to Oct. 4, 1898. —With regiment at Huntsville, Ala., to Dec., 1898. — Sick at Macon, Ga., to Jan., 1899. — On recruiting service at Providence, R. I., Feb. 1, 1899 to March 6, 1900. — With regiment at Havana, Cuba, March 18, 1899 to Sept. 17, 1901.

(Major, 6th Cavalry, Sept. 17, 1901)

--Remained with 7th Cavalry to Oct. 17, 1901; leave Oct. 25 to Dec. 25, 1901; sailed to Manila, Jan. 1, 1902; sick on transport and in hospital, Manila, Jan. 16 to Mar. 8, 1902; with 6th Cavalry on Luzon till June, 1902; in Malvar campaign, Mar. and April, 1902; detached service in Lipa and Maquiling Mountains in command of some 600 men; received telegram from General J. F. Bell of congratulation and commendation; commanded three troops cavalry and company, Scouts Headquarters, Genan, May and June, 1902; terrible cholera epidemic but lost only two men; Acting Inspector-General, middle June, 1902 to Sept. 15, 1903; transferred to 15th Cavalry, Aug. 14, 1903; at Fort Myer, Va., and fort Ethan Allen, Vt., Oct. 27, 1903 to Sept. 25, 1905; Inspector-General, Aug. 2, 1905; sailed for Manila, Oct. 5, 1905; duty, Inspector-General Department, Visayas, till Jan. 26, 1906; sick in hospital from Jan. 26 to July 14, 1906; assigned 9th Cavalry, July 5, 1906; commanded regiment maneuvers Fort Riley, July, Aug. and Sept. 1906; commanded Fort Leavenworth, Oct., 1906; Duty War College, Nov. 1, 1906, Nov. 4, 1907;

(Lieut.-Colonel, 14th Cavalry, July 24, 1907)

leave, Nov. 4, 1907 to March 4, 1908; at Boise Bks., Idaho, commanding post, March 4 to May 8, 1908; commanding regiment and post, May 9 to July 18, 1908; at Camp D. S. Stanley, Wash., Chief Umpire at Camp of Instruction, July 27 to Aug. 29, 1908; at Boise Bks., commanding regiment and post, Sept. 16, 1908, to Feb. 28, 19010; en route to Philippines, March 7 to April 5, 19010; at Camp Stotsenburg, P. I., commanding regiment and post, April 5, 1910, to July 10, 1911; on special duty in connection with establishment of forage production, July 11, 1911 to

(Colonel of Cavalry, Aug. 11, 1911)

(Assigned to 10th Cavalry, April 3, 1912)

May 14, 1912; en route to U. S., to June 9, 1912; on leave of absence, June 9 to Oct. 2, 1912; at Fort Ethan Allen, Vt., commanding regiment and post, Oct. 8, 1912, to Dec. 5, 1913 (commanded regiment in maneuvers at Winchester, Va., July 8 to Sept. 30, 1913); commanding regiment en route from Fort Ethan Allen to Mexican border, Dec. 5, 1913; at Fort Huachuca, Arizona, commanding regiment at post, Dec. 21, 1913, to Aug. 1, 1914; at San Francisco, Cal., in charge of Militia affairs, Western Department, Aug. 2, 1914, to Sept. 25, 1915.

Colonel, U. S. A., Retired, Sept. 25, 1915,

By Operation of Law.

Assigned to active duty on day following retirement; at Los Angeles, Cal., with National Guard of California, to January, 1918; at Denver, Col., at University of Denver, Jan. 14, 1918; organized unit of Reserve Officers’ Training Corps at that institution and commanded it until it was replaced by the Students’ Army Training Corps; organized unit of S. A. T. C. at same place and commanded it until it was demobilized Dec. 20, 1918.

Nez Perce War
From Month/Year June / 1877	To Month/Year October / 1877
Description The Nez Perce War was an armed conflict between several bands of the Nez Perce tribe of Native Americans and their allies, a small band of the Palouse tribe led by Red Echo (Hahtalekin) and Bald Head (Husishusis Kute), against the United States Army. The conflict, fought between June–October 1877, stemmed from the refusal of several bands of the Nez Perce, dubbed "non-treaty Indians", to give up their ancestral lands in the Pacific Northwest and move to an Indian reservation in Idaho. This forced removal was in violation of the 1855 Treaty of Walla Walla, which granted the tribe 7.5 million acres in their ancestral lands and the right to hunt and fish in lands ceded to the government. After the first armed engagements in June, the Nez Perce embarked on an arduous trek north initially to seek help with the Crow tribe. After the Crows' refusal of aid, they sought sanctuary with the Lakota led by Sitting Bull, who had fled to Canada in May 1877 to avoid capture following the 1876 Battle of the Little Bighorn. The Nez Perce were pursued by elements of the U.S. Army with whom they fought a series of battles and skirmishes on a fighting retreat of 1,170 miles (1,880 km). The war ended after a final five-day battle fought alongside Snake Creek at the base of Montana's Bears Paw Mountains only 40 miles (64 km) from the Canada–US border. A majority of the surviving Nez Perce represented by Chief Joseph of the Wallowa band of Nez Perce, surrendered to Brigadier Generals Oliver Otis Howard and Nelson A. Miles.[4] White Bird, of the Lamátta band of Nez Perce, managed to elude the Army after the battle and escape with an undetermined number of his band to Sitting Bull's camp in Canada. The 418 Nez Perce who surrendered, including women and children, were taken prisoner and sent by train to Fort Leavenworth, Kansas. Although Chief Joseph is the most well known of the Nez Perce leaders, he was not the sole overall leader. The Nez Perce were led by a coalition of several leaders from the different bands who comprised the "non-treaty" Nez Perce, including the Wallowa Ollokot, White Bird of the Lamátta band, Toohoolhoolzote of the Pikunin band, and Looking Glass of the Alpowai band. Brigadier General Howard was head of the U.S. Army's Department of the Columbia, which was tasked with forcing the Nez Perce onto the reservation and whose jurisdiction was extended by General William Tecumseh Sherman to allow Howard's pursuit. It was at the final surrender of the Nez Perce when Chief Joseph gave his famous "I Will Fight No More Forever" speech, which was translated by the interpreter Arthur Chapman. The New York Times wrote in an 1877 editorial on the Nez Perce War that: "On our part, the war was in its origin and motive nothing short of a gigantic blunder and a crime"