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I am presently researching Major Horatio Collins King, a Medal of Honor winner from the Battle of Dinwiddie Courthouse March 31, 1865. He was acting as Chief Quartermaster of Sheridan's First Division during the Appommatox Campaign.
His original Medal of Honor Citation issued on the anniversary of Antietam, September 17, 1897 states:
"On March 29, 1865, this officer, then a Major, U.S. Vols., and Quartermaster 1st Cavalry Division, Cavalry Corps, requested permission, which was granted, to accompany the General Commanding Division on the movement then ordered as a volunteer Aide-de-Camp, and was often under fire in the action near Dinwiddie Courthouse, March 31, 1865, Major King, while serving as an Aide, behaved with distinguished gallantry in a cavalry charge."
The 1916 commision's May 31 letter confirming the award bore the following citation:
"While serving as a volunteer aide, carried orders to the reserve brigade and participated with it in the charge which repulsed the enemy."
I believe King may have personally pursued the award. The only hard evidence to suggest this is an 1896 exchange between King and the War Department confirming the dates of King's service and later resignation from the army. The details of the award are also somewhat sketchy, the action described on his citation corresponds with the events of the Battle of Five Forks, not Dinwiddie Courthouse. His superior officers, Sheridan and Devin both died years before King was to receive the award. Gibbs, the reserve brigade commander also died shortly after the war. If King did indeed pursue the award personally, his 1895 campaign for Secretary of State of New York, 1896 run for Congress, and position as Secretary of the Army of the Potomac may have motivated him to seek this recognition. King was well connected to both the political and military establishments and as such it should not have been too hard to some strings.
The award was later upheld by the commission convened in 1916 to review previous Medals of Honor. I've been able to access King's wartime diary, letters preserved by his family, and original Medal of Honor Citation, along with a number of other documents. I still need to hunt down his wartime correspondence held by the NY Historical society, may also check in on collections of his papers in Brooklyn and DC.
My question: Is there any central repository for War Department documents relating to Medals of Honor? i.e. Letters of commendation confirming deeds meriting the award? Is there a collection of documents relating to the 1916 commission reviewing awards?
His original Medal of Honor Citation issued on the anniversary of Antietam, September 17, 1897 states:
"On March 29, 1865, this officer, then a Major, U.S. Vols., and Quartermaster 1st Cavalry Division, Cavalry Corps, requested permission, which was granted, to accompany the General Commanding Division on the movement then ordered as a volunteer Aide-de-Camp, and was often under fire in the action near Dinwiddie Courthouse, March 31, 1865, Major King, while serving as an Aide, behaved with distinguished gallantry in a cavalry charge."
The 1916 commision's May 31 letter confirming the award bore the following citation:
"While serving as a volunteer aide, carried orders to the reserve brigade and participated with it in the charge which repulsed the enemy."
I believe King may have personally pursued the award. The only hard evidence to suggest this is an 1896 exchange between King and the War Department confirming the dates of King's service and later resignation from the army. The details of the award are also somewhat sketchy, the action described on his citation corresponds with the events of the Battle of Five Forks, not Dinwiddie Courthouse. His superior officers, Sheridan and Devin both died years before King was to receive the award. Gibbs, the reserve brigade commander also died shortly after the war. If King did indeed pursue the award personally, his 1895 campaign for Secretary of State of New York, 1896 run for Congress, and position as Secretary of the Army of the Potomac may have motivated him to seek this recognition. King was well connected to both the political and military establishments and as such it should not have been too hard to some strings.
The award was later upheld by the commission convened in 1916 to review previous Medals of Honor. I've been able to access King's wartime diary, letters preserved by his family, and original Medal of Honor Citation, along with a number of other documents. I still need to hunt down his wartime correspondence held by the NY Historical society, may also check in on collections of his papers in Brooklyn and DC.
My question: Is there any central repository for War Department documents relating to Medals of Honor? i.e. Letters of commendation confirming deeds meriting the award? Is there a collection of documents relating to the 1916 commission reviewing awards?