b. 01/01/1866 Chicago, Illinois. d. 18/05/1923 Washington DC.
DATE OF MOH ACTION: 24/06/1898 Las Guasimas, Cuba.
James R Church MOH
James Robb Church was born in Chicago in 1866. He graduated from Columbia Medical College in New York City in 1893 before moving to Washington. That’s where he was commissioned into the Army as a first lieutenant and given the job of assistant surgeon with the 1st U.S. Volunteer Cavalry — the famous “Rough Riders” led by then-Colonel Roosevelt. They were a group of skilled frontiersmen with a reputation of being one of the stronger, more disciplined volunteer units during the Spanish-American War.
Church earned the Medal of Honor on June 24, 1898, during the Battle of Las Guasimas, the first land engagement of the war. U.S. soldiers were trying to storm Spanish positions in the jungle areas of Cuba surrounding the southeast coastal town of Santiago.
Eventually, volleys of gunfire broke out from each side, and men were getting hit. According to a 1906 article from the Princeton Alumni Weekly, “Church was not content to remain in the rear while his comrades were engaged with the enemy. He was on the firing line constantly, going to the rescue of wounded soldiers and, under the heavy fire of the enemy, carried them unaided to places of safety.”
To save his men, Church put himself in grave danger. Before long, though, the Americans had pushed the Spaniards into retreat. But Church had more work to do — he was in charge of the hospital during the days after the fighting ceased and the dreaded Cuban fever was circulating.
For his bravery during the battle, Church was appointed as an assistant surgeon in the regular Army later that year. He had earned the rank of captain by the time he received the Medal of Honor on Jan. 10, 1906. Church was the first recipient to get it at the White House from the President — who just happened to be his former commander, Roosevelt.
Church continued in his role with the military for many more years. He also served during World War I, where he volunteered while in his 50s to serve as an attache with the French army. He even wrote about his long experience as a war surgeon in his memoir titled “The Doctor’s Part: What Happens to the Wounded In War,” which was published in 1918. Church was a colonel when he finally separated from the Army. He died on May 18, 1923, and was buried in Arlington National Cemetery.
MOH CITATION:
In addition to performing gallantly the duties pertaining to his position, voluntarily and unaided carried several seriously wounded men from the firing line to a secure position in the rear, in each instance being subjected to a very heavy fire and great exposure and danger.
BURIAL LOCATION: ARLINGTON NATIONAL CEMETERY, ARLINGTON, VIRGINIA.
SECTION 3, LOT 1409-A
LOCATION OF MEDAL: FAMILY.
