Eugene Beauharnais Beaumont

Eugene Beauharnais Beaumont was born in Wilkes-Barre, Pennsylvania on August 2, 1837. He took part in the United States Army's activities during the American Civil War and in the later campaigns on the Western Frontier. He reached the rank of major and acted as Assistant Adjutant General of the Cavalry Corps of the Army of the Mississippi.

Beaumont showed his ability as a combat leader in the last year of the Civil War. On December 17, 1864, while taking part in an action at the Harpeth River in Tennessee, he asked his corps commander for permission to lead an advance with the 4th U.S. Cavalry and then directed an attack directly on a Confederate artillery battery, thus breaking the enemy lines and capturing the guns. Four months later, on April 2, 1865, at the Battle of Selma in Alabama, he led his regiment in a frontal assault which broke through the second and last line of the Confederate defensive positions.

Because of his great bravery in these two engagements, Beaumont was presented with the Medal of Honor on March 30, 1898.

The official citation reads: "Obtained permission from the corps commander to advance upon the enemy's position with the 4th U.S. Cavalry, of which he was a lieutenant; led an attack upon a battery, dispersed the enemy, and captured the guns. At Selma, Ala., charged, at the head of his regiment, into the second and last line of the enemy's works."

After the Civil War ended, Beaumont stayed in the regular army and moved to the Western Frontier. From 1869 to 1870, he commanded the District of Lampasas in Texas and then took part in the Red River War while serving under Colonel Ranald S. Mackenzie. During the campaign, he led the first battalion of the 4th Cavalry at the Battle of Palo Duro Canyon. In his later years, he served for four years as a cavalry instructor at the United States Military Academy at West Point, commanded Fort Reno in the Indian Territory, and was also involved in the Ute campaign. He held the rank of Lt. Colonel, later brevet Colonel, in the U.S. Volunteers and died on August 17, 1916.