b. 11/06/1838 Allegany, New York. d. 21/06/1903 Jersey City, New Jersey.
DATE OF MOH ACTION: 06/10/1863 Baxter Springs, Kansas.
James B Pond MOH
Pond was born on June 11, 1838, in Allegany, New York, though his official residence was listed as Janesville, Wisconsin. The family moved, first to Illinois in 1844, then to Wisconsin in 1847.
Pond became a strong abolitionist. He was a member of the Underground Railroad, helping escaped slaves reach freedom and reportedly riding with John Brown for a time in the mid-1850s. He studied printing and published The Journal in Markesan, Wisconsin, between 1860 and 1861.
In November 1861, Pond was commissioned as a lieutenant in the 3rd Wisconsin Volunteer Cavalry Regiment. At the Battle of Baxter Springs, he fought against the notorious Confederate guerrilla leader William Quantrill and his Raiders. For his heroism in that action, he was awarded the Medal of Honor on March 30, 1898. By the time he mustered out in September 1865, he had been promoted to the rank of major. After the war, he was elected as a companion of the New York Commandery of the Military Order of the Loyal Legion of the United States.
After the war, he tried his hand at various business enterprises in the western United States. In Salt Lake City, he was asked to manage a national lecture tour for Ann Eliza Young, the 52nd wife of Brigham Young, who had become disillusioned with her husband. She eventually divorced Young and spoke out against him, the LDS Church, and polygamy.
In 1874, Pond purchased the Lyceum Theatre Lecture Bureau and embarked on a career managing speakers. In 1879, he moved his main office to New York City. In addition to Mark Twain’s 1884–85 tour, Pond managed the North American stage of the worldwide lecture tour the author undertook in 1895–96 to pay off his enormous debts. He also promoted Winston Churchill’s first American tour, though the two had a falling out and Churchill referred to Pond as “a vulgar Yankee impresario.” Explorer and journalist Henry Morton Stanley earned $60,000 (~$1.86 million in 2023) for an 1890–91 U.S. tour set up by Pond. Other clients included P. T. Barnum, Booker T. Washington, Frederick Douglass, Arthur Conan Doyle, Ellen Terry, and Henry Ward Beecher. Pond wrote a book entitled Eccentricities of Genius (1900), in which he reminisced about his experiences with his famous clients.
MOH CITATION:
While in command of two companies of cavalry, was surprised and attacked by several times his own number of guerrillas, but gallantly rallied his men, and after a severe struggle drove the enemy outside the fortifications. First Lt. Pond then went outside the works and, alone and unaided, fired a howitzer three times, throwing the enemy into confusion and causing him to retire.
BURIAL LOCATION: WOODLAWN CEMETERY, BRONX, NEW YORK.
LAWN PLOT, SECTION 70, LOT 6393.
LOCATION OF MEDAL: CIVIL WAR MUSEUM, KENOSHA, WISCONSIN.
