b. 16/10/1835 Galesburg, Michigan. d. 12/11/1906 Bakersfield, California.
DATE OF MOH ACTION: 31/05/1862 Fair Oaks, Virginia.
William R Shafter MOH
Shafter was born in Galesburg, Michigan on October 16, 1835. His ancestors were of Scots-Irish descent and originally were settlers in Vermont. On his father’s side, the family was of Scots-Irish descent, as his ancestor came from Northern Ireland and Scotland, arriving in Massachusetts in the year 1670. Subsequently, the Shafters later settled in Vermont. He worked as a teacher and farmer in the years preceding the Civil War.
Shafter served as a 1st lieutenant the U.S. Army’s 7th Michigan Volunteer Infantry Regiment at the battles of Ball’s Bluff and Fair Oaks. He was wounded at the Battle of Fair Oaks and later received the Medal of Honor for heroism during the battle. He led a charge on the first day of the battle and was wounded towards the close of that day’s fighting. In order to stay with his regiment he concealed his wounds, fighting on the second day of the battle. On August 22, 1862, he was mustered out of the volunteer service but returned to the field as major in the 19th Michigan Volunteer Infantry Regiment. He was captured at the Battle of Thompson’s Station and spent three months in a Confederate prison. In April 1864 after his release he was appointed colonel of the 17th United States Colored Infantry and led the regiment at the Battle of Nashville.
By the end of the war, he had been promoted to brevet brigadier general of volunteers. He stayed in the regular army when the war ended. During his subsequent service in the Indian Wars, he received his “Pecos Bill” nickname. He led the 24th Infantry, another United States Colored Troops regiment, in campaigns against the Cheyenne, Comanche, Kickapoo and Kiowa Indian warriors in Texas. While commander of Fort Davis, he started a controversial court-martial of second lieutenant Henry Flipper, the first black cadet to graduate from West Point. In May 1897 he was appointed as a brigadier general.
In the Spanish-American War he was placed in command of the army that in June, 1898, invaded Cuba. After hard fighting at El Caney and San Juan Hill, the expedition entered Santiago on July 17. Shafter was much criticized, however, because the expedition had been poorly prepared and ill-equipped and the mortality rate from disease was high. Shafter retired in 1899 and was advanced to major general on the retired list in 1901. On June 12, 1895 Shafter finally received the Medal of Honor for meritorious service in the Civil War. Shortly after his promotion to major general in 1901, he retired to his sixty-acre farm adjoining his daughter’s ranch near Bakersfield, California. On November 12, 1906, Shafter, terribly overweight, died at his daughter Mary’s home from an intestinal obstruction complicated by pneumonia. He was buried next to his wife at the presidio in San Francisco, California. His films include: “Surrender of General Toral” (1898) and “Major General Shafter” (1898). In both films he played himself. The town of Shafter, CA was named after him.
MOH CITATION:
Lt. Shafter was engaged in bridge construction and not being needed there returned with his men to engage the enemy participating in a charge across an open field that resulted in casualties to 18 of the 22 men. At the close of the battle his horse was shot from under him and he was severely flesh wounded. He remained on the field that day and stayed to fight the next day only by concealing his wounds. In order not to be sent home with the wounded he kept his wounds concealed for another three days until other wounded had left the area.
BURIAL LOCATION: SAN FRANCISCO NATIONAL CEMETERY, SAN FRANCISCO, CALIFORNIA.
SECTION OS, GRAVE 30, LOT 3.
LOCATION OF MEDAL: BELIEVED TO BE FAMILY.
