Private Heth Canfield - St. Augustine, FL
N 29° 53.639 W 081° 20.202
17R E 467491 N 3307085
The final resting place of Heth Canfield is located in the Evergreen Cemetery in St. Augustine, Florida.
Waymark Code: WMARX7
Location: Florida, United States
Date Posted: 02/20/2011
Views: 9
From the
Medal of Honor Recipients website:
"CANFIELD, HETH
Rank and organization: Private, Company C, 2d U.S. Cavalry. Place and date. At Little Blue, Nebr. 15 May 1870. Entered service at. ------. Birth: New Meddford, Conn. Place of issue. 22 June 1870. Citation. Gallantry in action."
From the Home of Heroes website:
"On 15 May 1870, Sergeant Patrick Leonard and four men from C Troop were searching the Little Blue River in Nebraska for stray horses when a war party of 50 Indians surrounded the detachment. Racing for cover, Leonard dismounted his men and discovered that Private Thomas Hubbard and two mounts had been wounded. The Indians charged twice and the troopers repelled them, with one Indian killed and three wounded. Leonard slaughtered the two wounded horses to form a breastwork in time to repulse a third attack in which the cavalrymen killed two more Indians and wounded four others. Within the hour, the Indians retreated. Leonard had to withdraw his patrol on foot because the Indians had killed all the horses during the attack. He then took a settler's family of two women and a child under his charge. While moving to the next settlement, the Indians did not renew their attack. Leonard safely arrived at C Company's bivouac at 2300 hours with his entire patrol and the civilians relatively secure. Private Heth Canfield, along with Sergeant Leonard and fellow Privates Michael Himmelsbeck, Thomas Hubbard, and George Thompson were all cited for "Gallantry in Action" and awarded Medals of Honor for this action."