Medal of Honor: Sergeant Bernard Taylor
Quick answer: Who was Sergeant Bernard Taylor?
Bernard Taylor was a 5th Cavalry sergeant who, on November 1, 1874, near Sunset Pass in Arizona Territory, carried the badly wounded Lt. Charles King half a mile under fire after an Apache ambush, refusing King's order to leave him. He received the Medal of Honor in April 1875 and died soon after. He is buried at San Francisco National Cemetery.
Bernard Taylor was born in St. Louis in 1844 and enlisted in Washington, D.C., as a private in Company A, 5th Cavalry. Sent to the Arizona Territory during the Apache Wars, he rose to sergeant and was described as "an admirable specimen of the Irish-American soldier." The troopers called him Barney off duty and Sergeant at all other times. He was an expert horseman and a quick, accurate shot, never happier than on a rough mountain scout. On November 1, 1874, Taylor rode out of Camp Verde with a small patrol under First Lieutenant Charles King, pursuing an Apache war party. After making camp near Sunset Pass by the Little Colorado River, Taylor and several Apache scouts went with King to a high point to look over the country. Climbing a steep mesa about half a mile from camp, they were ambushed. King was hit by an arrow in the head and another near the eye, then by a rifle bullet in the arm, and went down. Taylor picked him up and, under heavy fire, carried him half a mile back toward camp, firing his carbine at their pursuers. King begged him, then ordered him, to save himself. Taylor kept going. "Here come the boys, Sir!" he called out as their men arrived, just as both of them were about to collapse. Taylor received the Medal of Honor on April 12, 1875, one of three men of the regiment honored for the campaign. He died of lung congestion at Camp Verde shortly afterward, before the regiment marched home, and was buried at San Francisco National Cemetery near the flagpole. Born in Missouri, enlisted in Washington, he fought in Arizona and rests in San Francisco, having seen the country he defended from coast to coast.
Why it matters for leaders: Taylor refused to leave his officer behind, even when ordered to.
Q: What did Bernard Taylor receive the Medal of Honor for?
A: Rescuing the wounded Lt. Charles King under fire near Sunset Pass, Arizona Territory, on November 1, 1874.
Q: Where is Taylor buried?
A: At San Francisco National Cemetery.
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By John Fenzel, founder and CEO of Heroes' Path Foundation