Thomas M Doherty
1869-1906
From an article by Jim Reis published in Pieces of the Past, Volume 23, page 43-45 and reprinted here with his permission.
Thomas M Doherty was
born 11 May 1869 at Mitchelstown, Ireland. He entered Service in the US Army
from Newcastle, Maine, and was serving as a corporal of Co H 21st US Infantry
when the war with Spain broke out in 1898. The fighting with Spain broke
out on two major fronts and Doherty and the 21st Infantry ended up in Cuba along
with the 6th Infantry, which before the ward was stationed at Ft. Thomas.
It was during the first day of the battle for Santiago that Doherty risked his live several times to rescue wounded men from the battlefield. His citation said his rescue efforts were conducted along the front line while under heavy gunfire.
He was awarded the Medal of Honor on 22 June 1899 for his courageous rescues during the Spanish-American War battle on 1 July 1898 at Santiago de Cuba. Doherty was transferred after the war to the 4th Infantry, which was stationed in Ft. Thomas. A 1906 City Directory said Doherty was living in Ft. Thomas and serving as a corporal in Co K.
In September 1906, Doherty was serving as acting drum major in the 4th Infantry, a post to which he had just recently been appointed. Prior to that he held the rank of color sergeant. Newspaper accounts say that he went to the saloon of Albert Jacobi across from the Ft. Thomas military post on 21 Sep 1906.
He was apparently drinking heavily and was despondent. When he did not show up for duty the next morning, a search was conducted and his body was found in an outhouse behind Jacobi's saloon. He had been shot once in the right temple and his army revolver was in his right hand. The county coroner ruled his death a suicide. Doherty was 37.
His only survivor was his mother in Ireland. Doherty was laid out in a
coffin draped with an American flay and services were held in the post hospital.
His battalion, led by the regimental band, paraded with teh casket to Evergreen
and he was buried with full military honors in a special soldiers section of the
cemetery.
Dohery's grave is marked by a special marker, is located in the veteran's section in the middle of the third row from the top. In 1916 some questioned whether all those who had received the Medal of Honor really deserved it. All those who had been awarded the medal were re-evaluated. All of the Northern Kentucky soldiers retained their medals.
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Kentucky Post, Saturday, 22 September 1906, page 5
Despondent after a spell of hard drinking, Acting Drum Major Thomas M Doherty, Fourth Infantry, stationed at Ft Thomas, yesterday went into an outhouse in the rear of Jacob's saloon on the Midway and fired a bullet into his right temple. A regulation army revolver clutched in his right hand told the story of how he came to his death.
He evidently been dead several hours when his body was found and every evidence pointed to a case of suicide. Doherty had failed to report for duty yesterday morning and Capt. Switzer instituted a search for him, with the result stated. Doherty had been Drum Major but a few days. Prior to that he was Color Sergeant and a member of the regular army 14 years. Through attention to duty and discipline, he advanced himself up from private through the eight grades of Corporal and five grades of Sergeant until he was made Color Sergeant by Col. Ray.
He
was a member of the Medal of Honor Legion, having been decorated for bravery at
San Juan Hill. Doherty was 37 years of age and was born in Cork, Ireland, where
his mother resides. Coroner Digby viewed the body and heard the statement of
Capt. Switzer and other witnesses, after which he rendered a verdict of suicide.