Ernest Albert Garlington

He faced fire at Wounded Knee during a devastating massacre.

Ernest Albert Garlington was born in South Carolina in 1853 and graduated from the United States Military Academy in 1876. Assigned to the 7th Cavalry, he served on the western frontier and later led an unsuccessful Arctic relief voyage for the Greely expedition.

On 29 December 1890 he was wounded at Wounded Knee, South Dakota, while serving as a first lieutenant with the 7th Cavalry. The Army subsequently awarded him the Medal of Honor for gallantry. That individual citation must be understood within the larger event: the killing of Lakota people, including women and children, now widely recognised as the Wounded Knee Massacre.

Garlington continued his Army career, serving during the Spanish-American War and in the Philippines. He became brigadier general and Inspector General of the Army in 1906 and served on the General Staff before retiring in 1917. He returned to active duty in the Office of the Chief of Staff from May to September 1918. He died on 16 October 1934 and was buried at Arlington National Cemetery.

Official Medal of Honor citation: Distinguished gallantry.