Julius Stickoffer

Holding his place in battle, he won recognition for courage.

Julius Henry Stickoffer was born in Switzerland in 1845 and emigrated to the United States. He settled at Cincinnati, Ohio, and joined the United States Army there in November 1866. Assigned to Company L of the 8th Cavalry, he served as a saddler, maintaining the leather equipment upon which a mounted regiment depended.

His regiment’s frontier service took him to Utah Territory. On 11 November 1868 he distinguished himself in an engagement at Cienaga Springs. His award was issued on 3 March 1870.

Stickoffer continued in the army until his discharge in November 1871. He re-enlisted the following February. An account of his service records a desertion in September 1872, an episode which complicated his later military history. The Medal of Honor nevertheless remained associated with his 1868 action.

In later life he lived at the Veterans Home in Yountville, California. He died there on 3 September 1925 and was buried in the home’s cemetery, where his headstone identifies the award and his cavalry service.