James Pym

He carried water under heavy enemy fire to wounded soldiers.

James Pym was born in England and enlisted in the United States Army at Boston in December 1874. He served as a private in Company B, 7th Cavalry, during the Great Sioux War.

At the Little Bighorn in June 1876, soldiers of the Reno and Benteen commands were surrounded on high ground with wounded men urgently needing water. Pym volunteered to go down toward the river despite enemy fire. The water carriers used available containers and repeatedly exposed themselves between the river and the defensive position, while other soldiers attempted to cover them. Pym was wounded in the ankle. His Medal of Honor recognized his voluntary effort to obtain water under heavy fire and was awarded in October 1878.

After leaving the Army in 1879, Pym lived for a time in Minnesota and subsequently moved to Montana. He married, and the couple attempted to run a restaurant in Miles City. The business failed and their marriage broke down. In November 1893 he was fatally shot during a confrontation in Miles City. He was buried in Custer County Cemetery. His medal is held by Little Bighorn Battlefield National Monument, and his weathered grave marker was replaced through a local veterans' research effort in 2010.

Official Medal of Honor citation:

Voluntarily went for water and secured the same under heavy fire.