Harry L. Hawthorne

An artillery officer wounded at Wounded Knee

Harry LeRoy Hawthorne was born in Minnesota in November 1859 and grew up after his family moved to Kentucky. Appointed to the United States Naval Academy from that state, he graduated in 1882 and served as a cadet engineer. In 1884 he transferred to the Army, accepting a commission in the 2nd United States Artillery.

On 29 December 1890 he commanded two Hotchkiss mountain guns at Wounded Knee Creek, South Dakota. Troops surrounding a Lakota camp had been ordered to disarm its inhabitants. Gunfire spread into an event now widely recognized as the Wounded Knee Massacre, in which large numbers of Lakota men, women and children were killed. Hawthorne was severely wounded while serving his guns. His Medal of Honor, issued in October 1892, recognized his conduct during the action.

Hawthorne continued as a professional artillery officer. His 1919 passport application recorded service in the Philippines from 1898 to 1900. He served with the 6th United States Artillery there and later held a volunteer commission with the 29th United States Infantry. He attended the Army War College and served as a military attaché in Japan from 1909 to 1911. After retiring as a colonel in 1914, he returned to active duty during the First World War as an inspector general in the Panama Canal Zone.

His interests extended beyond military technology. He wrote poetry, including a published poem imagining the course of a bullet. His family included his wife Elizabeth and daughter Marion. He lived into his late eighties and died in California in April 1948. He was buried at Arlington National Cemetery near other members of his family.

Medal of Honor citation

Distinguished conduct in battle with hostile Indians.