b. 12/08/1855 Madison County, Virginia. d. 18/08/1906 Columbus, Ohio.
DATE OF MOH ACTION: 24/01/1877 Florida Mountains, Arizona.
Clinton Greaves MOH
Clinton Greaves was born into slavery in Madison County, Virginia on 12 August 1855.
He joined the Army from Prince George’s County, Maryland in September 1872, and by January 24, 1877, was serving as a Corporal in Company C of the 9th Cavalry Regiment. On that day, Greaves was part of a detachment which participated in an engagement in the Florida Mountains of New Mexico against Apaches. The engagement started as a negotiation, but turned violent. Greaves shot his carbine until he was out of rounds, and then used his carbine as a club. Five Apaches died and Greaves’ group escaped through the opening Greaves made. For his actions during the battle, he was awarded the Medal of Honor two years later, on June 26, 1879.
Greaves served in the army for over 20 years, and had reached the rank of Sergeant upon his discharge in 1893. After his army service, he worked as a civilian for the Quartermaster Department. He died of heart disease at age 51 and was buried at Green Lawn Cemetery (Columbus, Ohio). He was the sixth of 19 Buffalo Soldiers to earn the Medal of Honor during the Indian Wars. It should be noted that for 92 years this American Hero had no stone. Mr. Raymond Albert, who belongs to the Medal of Honor Historical Society, learned about this and on June 13, 1998, a government issued stone was dedicated to this hero.
MOH CITATION:
While part of a small detachment to persuade a band of renegade Apache Indians to surrender, his group was surrounded. Cpl. Greaves in the center of the savage hand-to-hand fighting, managed to shoot and bash a gap through the swarming Apaches, permitting his companions to break free.
BURIAL LOCATION: GREEN LAWN CEMETERY, COLUMBUS, OHIO.
SECTION 27, LOT 88.
LOCATION OF MEDAL: BELIEVED TO BE FAMILY.
