John P. Yount – Medal of Honor, Indian Campaigns (1871)

Serving as a soldier in the U.S. Army, Private John P. Yount received the Medal of Honor for his actions on May 5, 1871 in Whetstone Mountains, Arizona Territory during the Indian Campaigns. At the time he was serving with Company F, 3d U.S. Cavalry. Yount was about 22 years old.

4 other service members also received the Medal of Honor for actions on the same day. The medal was presented on November 13, 1871.

Yount was born in 1849 in Putnam County, Indiana. His Medal of Honor is credited to Sacramento, Sacramento County, California. Yount died on December 11, 1872 in Fort McPherson, Nebraska, at the age of about 23. He is buried at Oak Grove Cemetery in Mt. Pleasant, Iowa.

Yount is one of 426 Medal of Honor recipients from the Indian Campaigns and one of 142 credited to California.

Official Medal of Honor citation

Gallantry in action with Indians.

Citation text: U.S. Government, public domain.

How he died

Manner of death: natural causes
Cause of death: typhoid fever
Age at death: about 23
Resting place: Oak Grove Cemetery

Cause and manner of death: Wikidata.

Battles and campaigns

Also served in: American Indian Wars.

Places

Born: Henry County — map
Died: Fort McPherson — map
Buried: Oak Grove Cemetery — map

Veteran resources, cemeteries and meeting places in California →

Timeline

1849
Born in Putnam County, Indiana
May 5, 1871
Act of valor — Whetstone Mountains, Arizona Territory
Age about 22. Company F, 3d U.S. Cavalry
November 13, 1871
Medal of Honor presented
December 11, 1872
Died in Fort McPherson, Nebraska
Age about 23.
Resting place
Oak Grove Cemetery
Mt. Pleasant, Iowa

Biography

John P. Yount (March 8, 1850 – December 11, 1872) was a soldier in the U.S. Army who served with the 3rd U.S. Cavalry during the Apache Wars against Cochise. In 1871, he was one of five men to receive the Medal of Honor for "gallantry in action" against an Apache raiding party in the Whetstone Mountains. Yount attempted to rescue a wounded civilian Indian scout during the battle, and after the scout was killed, continued to defend the body preventing the enemy from mutilating it afterwards. According to author and Iowa State Senator Dennis H. Black, Yount is one of 11 men from Henry County, Iowa to receive the Medal of Honor.

From the Wikipedia article “John P. Yount”, licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0. Read the full article →

Also honored for actions on May 5, 1871

HF Hermann Emil Fichter Private · Army Indian Campaigns · 1871 JK John Kilmartin Private · Army Indian Campaigns · 1871 DM Daniel H. Miller Private · Army Indian Campaigns · 1871 JM John Mott Sergeant · Army Indian Campaigns · 1871

Same unit

MM Michael A. McGann First Sergeant · Army Indian Campaigns · 1876

More Indian Campaigns recipients from California

JO John O'Callaghan Sergeant · Army Indian Campaigns · 1868 CG Charles Gardner Private · Army Indian Campaigns · 1868 ES Edward Stanley Corporal · Army Indian Campaigns · 1869 BS Benoni Strivson Private · Army Indian Campaigns · 1868 EE Edwin L. Elwood Private · Army Indian Campaigns · 1869 RH Richard Heartery Private · Army Indian Campaigns · 1881

Sources. Service and award details compiled from the recipient record of the Congressional Medal of Honor Society, Wikidata and Wikipedia. The narrative summary is generated from these records. Spotted an error? Send a correction.