William Grafton Austin

WILLIAM GRAFTON AUSTIN (1868 ~ 1929). Medal of Honor Recipient William Grafton Austin was born in Galveston, Texas, on January 6, 1868. He entered military service in New York City.

Austin became a Sergeant with Company E of the U.S. Seventh Cavalry and participated in the Pine Ridge Campaign which lasted from November 1890 to January 1891.

The 7th Cavalry's commander, Colonel James W. Forsyth, was ordered to disarm a band of Lakota led by Chief Big Foot on their way to Nebraska. Troops from the 7th Cavalry met Big Foot's band on December 28 and prepared to make camp near Wounded Knee Creek that night. A census was taken of the Lakota and recorded their numbers as 120 men and 230 women and children.

The next day, the rest of the 7th Cavalry arrived and encircled the Lakota and positioned a battery of cannon facing the camp. Colonel James Forsyth announced his intentions to march the captured Lakota to Omaha, Nebraska, after all weapons were surrendered. Soldiers confiscated anything in the Lakota camp which could be used as a weapon, from firearms to tent stakes and hatchets, and when that was completed they searched the Lakota men themsleves.

During the search, one Lakota man refused to surrender his gun and it discharged. Almost immediatly, soldiers fired into the encampment, though many U.S. soldiers were still attempting to disarm the Lakota. Lakota men scrambeled to get their confiscated weapons in order to fight back and open an escape route for the women and children. After five minutes of intense and confused fighting, including the use of cannon, the firing stopped. Many Lakota fled into the Wounded Knee Creek ravine looking for an escape, but were fired upon from the top of the ravine by soldiers.

Austin was on top of the ravine directing the firing line. It is for his direction of the firing line that he was awarded the Congressional Medal of Honor on June 27, 1891. Whether he was directing shooting at combatants or noncombatants is unknown. The incident at Wounded Knee is considered a massacre by many historians, as few Lakota were armed and most were women and children.

In all, 146 Lakota were killed, including Big Foot, who, severly ill with pnemonia, had been resting in an Army ambulance when the firing began. All of the victims were buried in a mass grave following a snowstorm. A total of 20 Medals of Honor were awarded to members of the 7th Cavalry for their actions at Wounded Knee, and all have been the subject of much controversy.

Austin eventually mustered out of the Army and settled in Los Altos, California. He died there on July 15, 1929.

Bibliography: "Above and Beyond: The Medal of Honor in Texas," Capitol Complex Visitors Center, State Preservation Board of Texas. Handbook of Texas Online, Texas State Historical Association, University of Texas, http://www.tsha.utexas.edu/handbook/online/articles.