Clinton Greaves

Opened an escape route for surrounded cavalrymen

Clinton Greaves earned the Medal of Honor in the Florida Mountains of New Mexico on 24 January 1877. Serving as a corporal with Company C, 9th United States Cavalry, he helped a surrounded detachment escape during fighting with Apache opponents.

Greaves was born in Madison County, Virginia, on 12 August 1855. His award was accredited to Baltimore, Maryland. The authoritative recipient record identifies his cavalry unit but does not provide a detailed childhood or enlistment history.

His detachment had been sent to seek the surrender of an Apache group. When the soldiers were surrounded, Greaves fought at close quarters and opened a gap through which his companions could withdraw. His recognized deed was the escape route he created for the men around him.

The Medal of Honor was awarded on 26 June 1879. Greaves survived the action and died in Columbus, Ohio, on 18 August 1906. He is buried in Greenlawn Cemetery in Columbus. His citation preserves the record of an individual intervention that enabled a small Army detachment to break out of danger.

Medal of Honor citation

While part of a small detachment to persuade a band of renegade Apache Indians to surrender, his group was surrounded. Cpl. Greaves in the center of the savage hand-to-hand fighting, managed to shoot and bash a gap through the swarming Apaches, permitting his companions to break free.