b. 03/06/1844 County Waterford, Ireland. d. 29/09/1927 Prescott, Arizona.
DATE OF MOH ACTION: 08-10/10/1868 Arizona Territory.
Nicholas Foran was born in County Waterford, Ireland on June 3, 1844. He later emigrated to the United States and enlisted in the U.S. Army in St. Louis, Missouri in 1867. Assigned to frontier duty with the 8th U.S. Cavalry, Foran participated in the Apache Wars in the late-1860s. In the late summer and fall of 1868, Foran was part of a small cavalry detachment ordered to secure settlements and protect the Arizona Territory from Apache raiding parties. From August to October, a group of 50-60 cavalry troopers from Companies B and L frequently fought the Apache during their patrols. Cavalrymen such as Foran experienced ambushes and sniper attacks from hidden ravines. After the campaign’s end, he and thirty-four other men received the Medal of Honor for “bravery in scouts and actions against Indians”. The award presentation, held on July 24, 1869, was one of the largest held at the time.
Foran was later posted to Fort Whipple in Prescott, Arizona. In 1872, he was finally discharged from Fort Union, New Mexico at the rank of sergeant. Returning to Arizona, he worked the mines in the McCabe district for 35 years before permanently settling in Prescott. His home at 144 North Granite Street, which no longer exists, was opened to the poor and said to be a “haven for all”. Foran died in Prescott on September 29, 1927, at the age of 83. He was interred at the Prescott National Cemetery. His a biography of his life, in which he was praised as a “typical trail blazer and a Western pioneer”, was published in the Evening Courier three days after his death.
MOH CITATION:
Bravery in scouts and actions against Indians.
BURIAL LOCATION: PRESCOTT NATIONAL CEMETERY, PRESCOTT, ARIZONA.
SECTION 1A, ROW B, GRAVE 54
LOCATION OF MEDAL: BELIEVED TO BE FAMILY.
