Jacob Trautman
Jacob Trautman | |
---|---|
Born | 1840 Germany |
Died | November 7, 1898 Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, United States | (aged 58)
Place of burial | South Side Cemetery |
Allegiance | ![]() |
Service/ | United States Army |
Years of service |
|
Rank | First sergeant |
Unit |
|
Battles/wars |
|
Awards | Medal of Honor |
First Sergeant Jacob Trautman (1840 – November 7, 1898) was a German-born soldier in the U.S. Army. His service included an enlistment with a Pennsylvania cavalry regiment during the Civil War and with the 7th Cavalry Regiment during the Indian Wars. He was one of twenty men who received the Medal of Honor for his actions at the Battle of Wounded Knee, now called the Wounded Knee Massacre, and afterward.
Biography[]
Jacob Trautman was born in Germany, in 1840 to Jacob and Margaret Trautman.[1] He emigrated to the United States.
Trautman made a claim for a pension to the pensions office of the War Department based on service with Company E and Company L, Pennsylvania Cavalry and with Troop I, 7th Cavalry Regiment[2] Trautman enlisted in the 5th Pennsylvania Cavalry as a private and was discharged as a sergeant.[3] Trautman mustered into Company L, 5th Cavalry, Pennsylvania Volunteers on August 9, 1861; he was promoted to corporal and later to sergeant; and was transferred to Company E on June 5, 1865.[4] In Company E, Trautman served as a sergeant and mustered out with the company on August 7, 1865; his individual record is annotated "Vet."[5]
Trautman enlisted with I Troop, 7th Cavalry Regiment on January 4, 1876, in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. This enlistment was his second but there is no identification of the nature of his first term (Civil War or some service between 1865 and 1876). He was discharged on January 3, 1881, at Fort Totten, Dakota Territory as a first sergeant.[6] Trautman re-enlisted immediately on January 4, 1881, at Fort Totten and served until January 3, 1886, when he was discharged at Fort Meade, Dakota Territory as a first sergeant.[7]
Trautman next re-enlisted at Fort Totten on January 4, 1886.[8] He was part of a force sent to arrest the Sioux chieftain Big Foot and disarm his 350 followers; he was among the cavalry troopers who, on the morning of December 29, 1890, surrounded his camp on the banks of Wounded Knee Creek. Trautman distinguished himself by killing an armed Sioux warrior "at close quarters", and was among the twenty cavalrymen who received the Medal of Honor.[9][10][11] His term of service expired on January 3, 1891, at the Pine Ridge Agency, South Dakota.[8] Although he was entitled to retire with pension, Troutman re-enlisted for the last time on January 4, 1891, while at the Pine Ridge Agency; he retired on August 3, 1891.[12]
Later life and death[]
Trautman returned to Pittsburgh where he died at his home at 21 Carson Street on November 7, 1898, from a cerebral hemorrhage at the age of 58.[13][1] He was buried at South Side Cemetery.
Medal of Honor citation[]
Killed a hostile Indian at close quarters, and, although entitled to retirement from service, remained to the close of the campaign.[14]
See also[]
References[]
- ^ a b "Pennsylvania, Pittsburgh City Deaths, 1870-1905," database with images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:XZ7K-V3P : 8 December 2014), Jacob Trautman, 07 Nov 1898; citing v 92 p 201, Allegheny County Courthouse, Pittsburgh; FHL microfilm 505,863.
- ^ "United States Index to General Correspondence of the Pension Office, 1889-1904," database with images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:KDTK-71H : 4 December 2014), Jacob Trautman, ; citing NARA microfilm publication M686 (Washington, D.C.: National Archives and Records Administration, n.d.); FHL microfilm 1,528,013.
- ^ "Soldier Details". The Civil War. National Park Service (US). Retrieved 4 July 2017.
- ^ "5th Cavalry Pennsylvania Volunteers Company L". PA Roots. Pennsylvania Resources. Retrieved 4 July 2017.
- ^ "5th Cavalry Pennsylvania Volunteers Company E". PA Roots. Pennsylvania Resources. Retrieved 4 July 2017.
- ^ "United States Registers of Enlistments in the U.S. Army, 1798-1914," database with images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:QJDR-37RV : 24 May 2014), Jacob Traulman, 04 Jan 1876; citing p. 36, volume 076, Pittsburgh, , Pennsylvania, United States, NARA microfilm publication M233 (Washington D.C.: National Archives and Records Administration, n.d.), roll 40; FHL microfilm 350,346.
- ^ "United States Registers of Enlistments in the U.S. Army, 1798-1914," database with images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:QJDR-7FDQ : 24 May 2014), Jacob Trautmann, 04 Jan 1881; citing p. 19, volume 082, Fort Totten, , Dakota Territory, United States, NARA microfilm publication M233 (Washington D.C.: National Archives and Records Administration, n.d.), roll 43; FHL microfilm 350,349.
- ^ a b "United States Registers of Enlistments in the U.S. Army, 1798-1914," database with images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:QJD5-L5Y9 : 24 May 2014), Jacob Trautman, 04 Jan 1886; citing p. 199, volume 086, Fort Totten, , Dakota Territory, United States, NARA microfilm publication M233 (Washington D.C.: National Archives and Records Administration, n.d.), roll 45; FHL microfilm 1,319,378.
- ^ Senate Committee on Veterans Affairs. Medal of Honor recipients, 1863-1978, 96th Cong., 1st sess. Washington, DC: US Government Printing Office, 1979. (pg. 1021)
- ^ Sterner, C. Douglas (1999). "MOH Citation for Jacob Trautman". MOH Recipients: Indian Campaigns. HomeofHeroes.com. Retrieved June 30, 2010.
- ^ Army Times Publishing Company. "Military Times Hall of Valor: Jacob Trautman". Awards and Citations: Medal of Honor. MilitaryTimes.com. Retrieved June 30, 2010.
- ^ "United States Registers of Enlistments in the U.S. Army, 1798-1914," database with images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:QJDR-WKRZ : 24 May 2014), Jacob Trautmann, 04 Jan 1891; citing p. 261, volume 088, Pine Ridge, , South Dakota, United States, NARA microfilm publication M233 (Washington D.C.: National Archives and Records Administration, n.d.), roll 46; FHL microfilm 1,319,379.
- ^ "Gather to Rest". The Pittsburgh Press (Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania). Nov 9, 1898. p. 11. Retrieved June 28, 2017 – via Newspapers.com.
- ^ "Trautman, Jacob". Congressional Medal of Honor Society. Retrieved May 12, 2020.
External links[]
- 1840 births
- 1898 deaths
- Union Army soldiers
- American military personnel of the Indian Wars
- United States Army Medal of Honor recipients
- Military personnel from Pittsburgh
- United States Army soldiers
- German-born Medal of Honor recipients
- German emigrants to the United States
- American Indian Wars recipients of the Medal of Honor
- Pine Ridge Campaign
- Military personnel from Hamburg