Albert Sale Explained
Private Albert D. Sale (1850 - November 28, 1874) was an American soldier in the U.S. Army who served with the 8th U.S. Cavalry in the Arizona Territory during the Apache Wars. He was awarded the Medal of Honor for gallantry against a hostile band of Apache Indians, killing an Apache warrior in hand-to-hand combat and seizing his war pony at the Santa Maria River on June 29, 1869.
Biography
Albert P. Sale was born in Broome County, New York, in 1850. After his father died, Sale and his siblings were placed in Binghamton Children's Home by his mother, who also died soon after. At age 14, he ran away from the home and spent two years on the road before arriving in Dubuque, Iowa. It was there that he enlisted in the United States Army,[1] [2] [3] signing papers indicating that he was of legal age, in August 1866. Sale was assigned to Troop F of the 8th U.S. Cavalry Regiment and spent the next several years on the frontier.[4]
While stationed at Camp Toll Gate, Sale served with the 8th Cavalry in the Arizona Territory during the Apache Wars and was present during the savage fighting in the area during the summer of 1869. On June 26, his unit engaged the Chiricahua Apache in one of the biggest battles of the campaign when Major W.R. Price led a surprise attack against a village on the Santa Maria River, killing four warriors and destroying about 200 dwellings. Sale distinguished himself in a follow-up action three days later in which he fought and killed an Apache brave in hand-to-hand combat, capturing his war pony and other effects. He was officially cited for "personal bravery in the face of the enemy" and awarded the Medal of Honor[1] [5] [6] [7] [8] [9] on March 3, 1870.[2] [3] [4] [10] [11] [12]
Though mustered out of the military shortly afterwards, Sale reenlisted four years later but died of typhoid fever at Fort Union in the New Mexico Territory on November 28, 1874. He was 24 years old. Sale was originally buried at Fort Union but was moved with 286 other graves in 1892 and interred at Fort Leavenworth National Cemetery.[4] [8] [12] He is one of ten Medal of Honor recipients, and one of four Indian War veterans, buried there.[11] [13]
Medal of Honor citation
Rank and organization: Private, Company F, 8th U.S. Cavalry. Place and date: At Santa Maria River, Ariz., 29 June 1869. Entered service at:--. Birth: Broome County, N.Y. Date of issue: 3 March 1870.
Citation:
Gallantry in killing an Indian warrior and capturing pony and effects.[14]
See also
Further reading
- Konstantin, Phil. This Day in North American Indian History: Important Dates in the History of North America's Native Peoples for Every Calendar Day. New York: Da Capo Press, 2002.
External links
Notes and References
- News: Medal of Honor winners with Iowa connection . . November 14, 2010 . December 28, 2010.
- Web site: Military Times Hall of Valor: Albert Sale. December 29, 2010 . Army Times Publishing Company . Awards and Citations: Medal of Honor . MilitaryTimes.com .
- Web site: MOH Citation for Albert Sale . December 29, 2010 . Sterner, C. Douglas . 1999 . MOH Recipients: Indian Campaigns . HomeofHeroes.com .
- Web site: Iowa Medal of Honor Heroes: Private Albert Sale . State Historical Society of Iowa . State Historical Society of Iowa . 2006 . Indian Wars . IowaHistory.org . December 28, 2010.
- Beyer, Walter F. and Oscar Frederick Keydel, ed. Deeds of Valor: From Records in the Archives of the United States Government; how American Heroes Won the Medal of Honor; History of Our Recent Wars and Explorations, from Personal Reminiscences and Records of Officers and Enlisted Men who Were Rewarded by Congress for Most Conspicuous Acts of Bravery on the Battle-field, on the High Seas and in Arctic Explorations. Vol. 2. Detroit: Perrien-Keydel Company, 1906. (pg. 553)
- O'Neal, Bill. Fighting Men of the Indian Wars: A Biographical Encyclopedia of the Mountain Men, Soldiers, Cowboys, and Pioneers Who Took Up Arms During America's Westward Expansion. Stillwater, Oklahoma: Barbed Wire Press, 1991. (pg. 26)
- Yenne, Bill. Indian Wars: The Campaign for the American West. Yardley, Pennsylvania: Westholme Publishing, 2006. (pg. 140)
- Web site: Photo of Grave site of MOH Recipient Albert Sale . December 29, 2010 . Sterner, C. Douglas . 1999 . Medal of Honor Recipient Gravesites In The State of Kansas . HomeofHeroes.com . https://web.archive.org/web/20110629041340/http://www.homeofheroes.com/gravesites/states/pages_pz/sale_albert.html . June 29, 2011 . dead .
- Web site: Albert Sale . Congressional Medal of Honor Society . Recipients . CMOHS.org . December 28, 2010. https://web.archive.org/web/20101217163026/http://cmohs.org/recipient-detail/1865/sale-albert.php. 17 December 2010 . live.
- Senate Committee on Veterans Affairs. Medal of Honor recipients, 1863-1978, 96th Cong., 1st sess. Washington, DC: US Government Printing Office, 1979. (pg. 312)
- Holt, Dean W. American Military Cemeteries: A Comprehensive Illustrated Guide to the Hallowed Grounds of the United States, including Cemeteries Overseas. Jefferson, North Carolina: McFarland, 1992. (pg. 110)
- Melzer, Richard. Buried Treasures: Famous and Unusual Gravesites in New Mexico History. Santa Fe: Sunstone Press, 2007. (pg. 285)
- Web site: Medal of Honor recipients and Leavenworth County . Davis, Roger . Fort Leavenworth Historical Society . December 28, 2010 . https://web.archive.org/web/20110726070719/http://www.ftlvnhistsoc.org/MOH%20in%20Leavenworth.htm . July 26, 2011 . dead . mdy-all .
- Web site: June 29, 2009 . Medal of Honor recipients . Indian War Campaigns . . June 8, 2009. https://web.archive.org/web/20090626170405/http://www.history.army.mil/html/moh/indianwars.html. 26 June 2009 . live.
