John Schnitzer

He faced heavy fire to help rescue a wounded fellow soldier.

John Schnitzer was born at Kempten in Bavaria in 1854. After emigrating to the United States, he entered the Army and served as a wagoner in Troop G of the 4th Cavalry. His duties placed him with troops campaigning in the borderlands of Arizona and New Mexico.

On 23 April 1882, at Horseshoe Canyon in the New Mexico Territory, soldiers encountered armed Apache fighters. Schnitzer went to the assistance of a wounded comrade despite the heavy fire. His participation in the rescue became the basis of the official Medal of Honor citation.

The recommendation did not bring an immediate award. His Medal of Honor was issued on 17 August 1896, more than fourteen years after the action. The decoration identified him with the 4th Cavalry and the Horseshoe Canyon engagement.

Schnitzer continued his association with the Army after the frontier campaigns. He later lived at Fort Bayard, New Mexico, which became an important military hospital and treatment centre. He died there on 26 October 1904, aged about fifty, and was buried in the military cemetery.

His grave is maintained in Fort Bayard National Cemetery. The Medal of Honor associated with his service subsequently entered the national museum collections, preserving the record of a soldier whose citation concerned the protection and evacuation of wounded men during a frontier engagement.

Medal of Honor citation

“Assisted, under a heavy fire, in rescuing a wounded comrade.”