b. 13/03/1872 Independence, Iowa. d. 09/07/1949 Skaneateles, New York.
DATE OF MOH ACTION: 13/07/1900 Tientsin, China.
Louis B Lawton MOH
Boxer Rebellion Congressional Medal of Honor Recipient. Born in Independence, Iowa, he later moved to Auburn, New York, and it was here that he entered military service. During the years 1898-1900 a violent nationalist movement, spearheaded by the Yihe Quang, or “righteous harmony fists”, terrorized China. Dubbed “Boxers” by the foreign press, they rampaged throughout the country killing both foreigners and those of their countrymen who were thought to be under foreign influence, such as converts to Christianity. An international force was consequently dispatched to China to stop the bloodbath. Lawton, then a First Lieutenant in the 9th Infantry, was among the US troops involved in the fighting. On July 13, 1900 in Tientsin, China, he successfully carried a message and guided reinforcements “across a wide, fireswept space” despite being wounded three times. He later returned to Auburn and died in nearby Skaneateles in 1949.
MOH CITATION:
Carried a message and guided reinforcements across a wide and fire-swept space, during which he was thrice wounded.
BURIAL LOCATION: FORT HILL CEMETERY, AUBURN, NEW YORK.
RIDGELAND, LOT 184, GRAVE 9.
LOCATION OF MEDAL: BELIEVED TO BE FAMILY.
