James Ward (Medal of Honor, 1890)

He continued fighting after he suffered severe knife wounds.

James Henry Ward was born at Quincy, Massachusetts, on 22 July 1854 to Irish immigrant parents. He worked as a bricklayer before joining the cavalry at Boston in August 1876. He first served with the 5th Cavalry, completed his enlistment at Fort Laramie and returned briefly to civilian work. Further enlistments took him into the 7th and 4th Cavalry before he returned to B Troop, 7th Cavalry.

On 29 December 1890, Ward was present at Wounded Knee when soldiers attempted to disarm the Lakota camp. Firing broke out at close quarters, followed by a massacre in which large numbers of Lakota men, women and children were killed. Ward was among the soldiers in the initial struggle. He was knocked down and stabbed in the shoulder but continued fighting.

Captain Charles Varnum recommended him for the Medal of Honor in March 1891, describing the close combat in which Ward had been wounded. The award was approved on 16 April. He also received an honourable mention in army general orders later that year.

Ward left the army in 1891 and settled in Boston, where he worked as a steamfitter. He married Catherine Harrington in April 1894, and their son James was born in December 1898. His final years were affected by serious illness. He was admitted to the Boston hospital at Roxbury and died there on 11 March 1901, aged forty-six. He was buried in New Calvary Cemetery at Mattapan.

His wife outlived him by more than fifty years and was buried beside him after her death in 1953. The Medal of Honor attached to his name remains part of the contested history of the awards made for Wounded Knee, alongside the records of the Lakota people killed there.

Official Medal of Honor citation:

Continued to fight after being severely wounded.