Paul H. Weinert

Sergeant Paul H. Weinert (July 15, 1869 – January 19, 1919) was an American soldier in the U.S. Army who served with the 1st U.S. Artillery during the Indian Wars. He was one of twenty men who received the Medal of Honor for gallantry at what was then called the Battle of Wounded Knee, but now commonly called the Wounded Knee Massacre, taking charge of the battery when his commanding officer was severely wounded, on December 29, 1890.

Paul H. Weinert
Paul H. Weinert as appearing in O.F. Keydel's Deeds of Valor: How America's Heroes Won the Medal of Honor (1907)
Born(1869-05-28)May 28, 1869
Frankfurt, Germany
DiedJanuary 19, 1919(1919-01-19) (aged 49)
Milton, Massachusetts, United States
Place of burial
Milton Cemetery
Allegiance United States
Service/branchUnited States Army
Years of service1886 - 1895, 1898 - 1899
RankSergeant
Unit1st U.S. Artillery
Battles/warsIndian Wars
Wounded Knee Massacre
AwardsMedal of Honor

Biography

Paul H. Weinert was born in Frankfurt, Germany on July 15, 1869. He later emigrated to the United States and joined the United States Army from Baltimore, Maryland in November 1886 (claiming to be 21 because he was underage). He was assigned to Battery E of the 1st U.S. Artillery and became a Corporal by age 20.

Weinert was present at the Wounded Knee Massacre when, on the morning of December 29, 1890, members of the 7th U.S. Cavalry Regiment surrounded the camp of the Sioux chieftain Big Foot to bring him into custody. His unit, consisting of four Hotchkiss guns, moved in after the fighting started and began giving artillery support to the cavalry troops. When his commanding officer, Lieutenant Harry Hawthorne, was severely wounded he assumed command and, with another soldier, directed artillery fire and successfully cleared out a key position, a ravine "pocket", occupied by a number of the Sioux warriors. He and the second cannoneer remained under heavy fire during the battle, at one point causing a round to be knocked out of Weinert's hands as he was about to load, resulting in the gun carriage being riddled with bullets. The two continued manually moving the cannon with each discharge to move it into a better position until the end of the battle.[1][2][3] For his actions, he received the Medal of Honor[4][5][6][7][8][9][10][11][12][13][14] along with four other artillerymen.[15] He was discharged in 1895, and served again from 1898 until 1899.[16]

Weinert died in Milton, Massachusetts on January 19, 1919 at the age of 49. He is one of two MOH recipients, along with Edward A. Gisburne, interred at Milton Cemetery.[17][18]

Medal of Honor citation

Rank and organization: Corporal, Company E, 1st U.S. Artillery. Place and date: At Wounded Knee Creek, S. Dak., 29 December 1890. Entered service at: Baltimore, Md. Birth: Germany. Date of issue: 24 March 1891.

Citation:

Taking the place of his commanding officer who had fallen severely wounded, he gallantly served his piece, after each fire advancing it to a better position.[19]

See also

References
  1. 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. 325)
  2. Wilson, D. Ray. Terror on the Plains: A Clash of Cultures. Dundee, Illinois: Crossroads Communications, 1999. ISBN 0-916445-47-X
  3. Fisher, Ernest F. Guardians of the Republic: a history of the noncommissioned officer corps of the U.S. Army. Mechanicsburg, Pennsylvania: Stackpole Books, 2001. (pg. 130-131) ISBN 0-8117-2784-X
  4. Senate Committee on Veterans Affairs. Medal of Honor recipients, 1863-1978, 96th Cong., 1st sess. Washington, DC: US Government Printing Office, 1979. (pg. 1020)
  5. Manning, Robert, ed. Above and Beyond: A History of the Medal of Honor from the Civil War to Vietnam. Boston: Boston Publishing Company, 1985. (pg. 83) ISBN 0-939526-19-0
  6. Hannings, Bud. A Portrait of the Stars and Stripes. Glenside, Pennsylvania: Seniram Publishing, 1988. (pg. 400) ISBN 0-922564-00-0
  7. 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. 35) ISBN 0-935269-07-X
  8. Gonzalez, Mario and Elizabeth Cook-Lynn. The Politics of Hallowed Ground: Wounded Knee and the Struggle for Indian Sovereignty. Urbana: University of Illinois Press, 1999. (pg. 392) ISBN 0-252-06669-3
  9. Cozzens, Peter, ed. Eyewitnesses to the Indian Wars, 1865-1890: The Wars for the Pacific Northwest. Mechanicsburg, Pennsylvania: Stackpole Books, 2001. (pg. 392) ISBN 0-8117-0573-0
  10. Utley, Robert M. The Last Days of the Sioux Nation. 2nd ed. New Haven: Yale University Press, 2004. (pg. 221-222) ISBN 0-300-10316-6
  11. Johansen, Bruce E. The Native Peoples of North America: A History. Vol. 2. New Brunswick, New Jersey: Rutgers University Press, 2006. (pg. 289) ISBN 0-8135-3899-8
  12. Yenne, Bill. Indian Wars: The Campaign for the American West. Yardley, Pennsylvania: Westholme Publishing, 2006. (pg. 292) ISBN 1-59416-016-3
  13. Sterner, C. Douglas (1999). "MOH Citation for Paul Weinert". MOH Recipients: Indian Campaigns. HomeofHeroes.com. Retrieved June 30, 2010.
  14. Army Times Publishing Company. "Military Times Hall of Valor: Paul H. Weinert". Awards and Citations: Medal of Honor. MilitaryTimes.com. Retrieved June 30, 2010.
  15. Zabecki, David T. American Artillery and the Medal of Honor. Bennington, Vermont: Merriam Vermont, 2008. (pg. 155-156) ISBN 1-4357-5541-3
  16. Register of Enlistments in the US Army, 1798-1914
  17. Sterner, C. Douglas (1999). "Photo of Grave site of MOH Recipient Paul Weinert". Medal of Honor recipient Gravesites In The State of Massachusetts. HomeofHeroes.com. Retrieved June 30, 2010.
  18. Fall, William P. (Spring 2007). "A Hero for Heroes, Milton's Edward A. Gisburne". Milton Historical Society - Milton Sampler. MiltonHistoricalSociety.org. Retrieved June 30, 2010.
  19. "Medal of Honor recipients". Indian War Campaigns. United States Army Center of Military History. June 8, 2009. Retrieved June 29, 2009.

Further reading
  • Jensen, Richard E., ed. Voices of the American West: The Settler And Soldier Interviews of Eli S. Ricker, 1903-1919. Vol. 1. Lincoln: University of Nebraska Press, 2005. ISBN 0-8032-3967-X
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