Corporal Thomas Powers, a soldier in the U.S. Army, received the Medal of Honor for gallantry on October 20, 1869 in Chiricahua Mountains, Arizona Territory during the Indian Campaigns. At the time he was serving with Company G, 1st U.S. Cavalry. Powers was about 23 years old.
32 other service members also received the Medal of Honor for actions on the same day. The medal was presented on February 14, 1870.
Powers was born in 1846 in New York, New York. His Medal of Honor is credited to Detroit, Wayne County, Michigan. Powers died on December 8, 1884 in Juddville, Michigan, at the age of about 38. He is buried at Great Lakes National Cemetery in Holly, Michigan.
Powers is one of 426 Medal of Honor recipients from the Indian Campaigns and one of 112 credited to Michigan.
Official Medal of Honor citation
Gallantry in action.
Citation text: U.S. Government, public domain.
From the archives
Thomas Powers was originally interred in the Cummin Cemetery in Juddville, Michigan. His remains were reinterred at Great Lakes National Cemetery in Holly, Michigan, on October 15, 2024. His original headstone from Cummin Cemetery is in the care of the Michigan Heroes Museum in Frankenmuth, Michigan.
Timeline
- 1846Born in New York, New York
- October 20, 1869Act of valor — Chiricahua Mountains, Arizona TerritoryAge about 23. Company G, 1st U.S. Cavalry
- February 14, 1870Medal of Honor presented
- December 8, 1884Died in Juddville, MichiganAge about 38.
- Resting placeGreat Lakes National CemeteryHolly, Michigan
