Serving as a soldier in the U.S. Army, First Sergeant Jacob Trautman received the Medal of Honor for his actions on December 29, 1890 at Wounded Knee Creek, South Dakota during the Indian Campaigns. At the time he was serving with Company I, 7th U.S. Cavalry. Trautman was about 50 years old.
18 other service members also received the Medal of Honor for actions on the same day. The medal was presented on March 27, 1891.
Trautman was born in 1840 in Hamburg, Germany — one of 130 recipients born in Germany. His Medal of Honor is credited to Pittsburgh, Allegheny County, Pennsylvania. Trautman died on November 7, 1898, at the age of about 58. He is buried at Southside Cemetery in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.
Trautman is one of 426 Medal of Honor recipients from the Indian Campaigns and one of 380 credited to Pennsylvania.
Official Medal of Honor citation
Killed a hostile Indian at close quarters, and, although entitled to retirement from service, remained to the close of the campaign.
Citation text: U.S. Government, public domain.
Places
Veteran resources, cemeteries and meeting places in Pennsylvania →
Timeline
- 1840Born in Hamburg, Germany
- December 29, 1890Act of valor — Wounded Knee Creek, South DakotaAge about 50. Company I, 7th U.S. Cavalry
- March 27, 1891Medal of Honor presented
- November 7, 1898DiedAge about 58.
- Resting placeSouthside CemeteryPittsburgh, Pennsylvania
Biography
First Sergeant Jacob Trautman (1840 – November 7, 1898) was a German-born soldier in the U.S. Army. His service included an enlistment with a Pennsylvania cavalry regiment during the Civil War and with the 7th Cavalry Regiment during the Indian Wars. He was one of twenty men who received the Medal of Honor for his actions at the Battle of Wounded Knee, now called the Wounded Knee Massacre, and afterward.
From the Wikipedia article “Jacob Trautman”, licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0. Read the full article →
