Thomas W Stivers MOH

b. 15/07/1850 Madison County, Kentucky. d. 28/06/1877 Kingston, Kentucky.

DATE OF MOH ACTION: 25-26/06/1876 Little Big Horn, Montana.

Thomas W. Stivers was born in Madison County, Kentucky, on July 15, 1850, the son of John W “Buck” Stivers (1822–1912) and his wife Mary Frances Ballard (1829–1884). Tom later moved to Mt. Vernon where he worked as a clerk. In August 1871, at the age of 21, he enlisted in the United States Army and was assigned to Company D of the 7th U.S. Cavalry Regiment for frontier duty. At the start of the Great Sioux War of 1876–77, Stivers accompanied the 7th U.S. Cavalry to the Dakota Territory and was present at the Battle of the Little Bighorn. He was one of nineteen men who volunteered to fetch water from the Little Big Horn and carry it to the wounded on Reno Hill throughout the battle. While four troopers exposed themselves to heavy enemy fire, in order to give covering fire, Stivers and fourteen others managed to leave the right wing of Captain Frederick Benteen’s line and crossed eighty yards of “fire-swept ground” to reach a deep ravine which they used for cover to get to the river. They then used heavy camp kettles to make repeated trips back and forth from the Little Big Horn to Reno Hill.

Stivers and the other Little Big Horn water carriers faced great danger, especially with Sioux braves hidden in bushes along the river, and at least one of the soldiers was wounded in an ambush. He and the rest of the water carriers were cited for gallantry, along with five others for direct combat actions, and awarded the Medal of Honor two years after the battle though Stivers received his posthumously. Stivers was discharged on August 5, 1876, while encamped with his unit at the mouth of Rosebud Creek in the Montana Territory, and returned to Kentucky where he attempted to go into business for himself. He died less than a year later, murdered over a business dispute, in Kingston on June 28, 1877, at age 27.

 

MOH CITATION:

Vountarily brought water to the wounded under fire.

 

BURIAL LOCATION: RICHMOND CITY CEMETERY, RICHMOND, KENTUCKY.

SECTION D, LOT 49.

LOCATION OF MEDAL: UNKNOWN.