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Honoring American TroopsMedal of Honor Archive

Sergeant · U.S. Army

Richard Longstreet Tea

Sergeant Richard Longstreet Tea, Army, received the Medal of Honor for actions on April 23, 1875 at Sappa Creek, Kansas during the Indian Campaigns.

Indian Campaigns April 23, 1875

Sergeant Richard Longstreet Tea, a soldier in the U.S. Army, received the Medal of Honor for gallantry on April 23, 1875 at Sappa Creek, Kansas during the Indian Campaigns. At the time he was serving with Company H, 6th U.S. Cavalry. Tea was about 33 years old.

7 other service members also received the Medal of Honor for actions on the same day. The medal was presented on November 16, 1876.

Tea was born in February 1842 in Philadelphia, Philadelphia County, Pennsylvania. Tea died on September 14, 1911 in Fort Whipple, Arizona, at the age of about 69. He is buried at Mountain View Cemetery in Prescott, Arizona.

Tea is one of 426 Medal of Honor recipients from the Indian Campaigns and one of 380 credited to Pennsylvania.

Official Medal of Honor citation

With five other men he waded in mud and water up the creek to a position directly behind an entrenched Cheyenne position, who were using natural bank pits to good advantage against the main column. This surprise attack from the enemy rear broke their resistance.

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

Timeline

  1. February 1842
    Born in Philadelphia, Philadelphia County, Pennsylvania
  2. April 23, 1875
    Act of valor — Sappa Creek, Kansas
    Age about 33. Company H, 6th U.S. Cavalry
  3. November 16, 1876
    Medal of Honor presented
  4. September 14, 1911
    Died in Fort Whipple, Arizona
    Age about 69.
  5. Resting place
    Mountain View Cemetery
    Prescott, Arizona

Also honored for actions on April 23, 1875

JA James F. Ayers Private · Army Indian Campaigns · 1875 MD Michael Dawson Trumpeter · Army Indian Campaigns · 1875 PG Peter W. Gardiner Private · Army Indian Campaigns · 1875 EH Elisha Simpson Hornaday Private · Army Indian Campaigns · 1875 JL James Lowthers Private · Army Indian Campaigns · 1875 FP Frederick Platten Sergeant · Army Indian Campaigns · 1875 Marcus M. Robbins Private · Army Indian Campaigns · 1875

Same unit

JC John Connor Corporal · Army Indian Campaigns · 1870 JH John Harrington Private · Army Indian Campaigns · 1874 TK Thomas Kerrigan Sergeant · Army Indian Campaigns · 1870 GK George Krause Kitchen Sergeant · Army Indian Campaigns · 1874 WM William W. Morris Corporal · Army Indian Campaigns · 1874 ES Edward Clay Sharpless Corporal · Army Indian Campaigns · 1874 CS Charles E. Smith Corporal · Army Indian Campaigns · 1870 AS Alonzo Stokes First Sergeant · Army Indian Campaigns · 1870

More Indian Campaigns recipients from Pennsylvania

GS George Springer Private · Army Indian Campaigns · 1869 GM George W. Miller Private · Army Indian Campaigns · 1868 George Ritter Burnett Second Lieutenant · Army Indian Campaigns · 1881 PT Peter Thompson Private · Army Indian Campaigns · 1876 JK John Kirk First Sergeant · Army Indian Campaigns · 1870 Leander Taylor Herron Corporal · Army Indian Campaigns · 1868
Sources. Service and award details compiled from the recipient record of the Congressional Medal of Honor Society. The narrative summary is generated from these records. Spotted an error? Send a correction.