{{Short description|United States Army first lieutenant}} {{Use mdy dates|date=April 2016}} {{Infobox military person |name=Powhatan Henry Clarke |birth_date= {{Birth date|1862|10|09}} |death_date= {{Death date and age|1893|07|21|1862|10|09}} |birth_place= Alexandria, Louisiana |death_place= Fort Custer, Montana |burial_place= Calvary Cemetery<br />St. Louis, Missouri |burial_label= Place of burial |image=PowhatanHenryClarkeCROP.jpg |caption= Powhatan Henry Clarke wearing his Medal of Honor |allegiance= United States of America |branch= United States Army |service_years= 1884–1893 |rank= First Lieutenant |unit= 10th U.S. Cavalry <br /> 9th U.S. Cavalry |battles=Apache Wars<br /> *Geronimo Campaign *Lebo Expedition *Cherry Creek Campaign |awards=Medal of Honor }}
'''Powhatan Henry Clarke''' (October 9, 1862 – July 21, 1893) was a United States Army first lieutenant who was a recipient of the Medal of Honor during the Geronimo Campaign in Sonora, Mexico. He received the medal for rescuing a wounded soldier on May 3, 1886.<ref name="indianwars">{{Cite web|url=http://www.history.army.mil/html/moh/indianwars.html|title=Medal of Honor recipients Indian Wars Period|publisher=Army Center of Military History|access-date=April 12, 2009|archive-date=May 24, 2009|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090524162853/http://www.history.army.mil/html/moh/indianwars.html|url-status=dead}}</ref>
Clarke was the subject of art by Frederic Remington - ''"Lieutenant Powhatan H Clarke Tenth Cavalry"'' and ''"Soldiering in the Southwest–The Rescue of Corporal Scott"''.
==Life== Clarke was born at Ulster Plantation, Boyce, Louisiana on October 9, 1862. He was the grandson of U.S. federal judge Henry Boyce and Irene Archinard, and the son of Louise Frances Boyce and Dr. (Professor) Powhatan Clarke.<ref name="nytclarkeobit">{{Cite news|url=https://timesmachine.nytimes.com/timesmachine/1893/07/23/109264971.pdf|title=Lieut. Powhatan Clarke Drowned|date=July 22, 1893|work=The New York Times|access-date=April 13, 2009 }}</ref><ref>{{Cite web | title=Powhatan Henry Clarke | url=http://www.genealogy.com/users/w/e/t/John-F-Wettermark/PHOTO/0031photo.html | work=Genealogy.com | publisher=The Generations Network | access-date=April 13, 2009 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110606012724/http://www.genealogy.com/users/w/e/t/John-F-Wettermark/PHOTO/0031photo.html | archive-date=June 6, 2011 | url-status=dead }}</ref> He partly studied in France. He graduated from the United States Military Academy in 1884.<ref name="p80">Thapp (1991), p. 80</ref>
Clarke was a second lieutenant in the 10th Cavalry Regiment of the Buffalo Soldiers at Fort Davis, Texas.<ref name="p80"/><ref name="clarke10th">{{Cite web|url=http://www.buffalosoldierselpaso.org/LtPowhattanHClarke.html|title=Lieutenant Powhattan H. Clarke|publisher=Buffalo Soldiers El Paso|access-date=April 13, 2009|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100209064937/http://www.buffalosoldierselpaso.org/LtPowhattanHClarke.html|archive-date=February 9, 2010|url-status=dead}}</ref> On May 3, 1886, he rescued one of his wounded soldiers, Corporal Edward Scott, who was under heavy fire from Apaches at Pinito Mountains, Sonora. He received a Medal of Honor for this action.
He was the commander of Apache Scouts until 1891. That same year, he became a compatriot of the District of Columbia Society of the Sons of the American Revolution and was assigned national membership number 1976.
In 1891, he became First Lieutenant and he was transferred to the 9th Cavalry Regiment. From 1891 to 1892 he was an observer, stationed at Düsseldorf, Germany with a Westphalian Hussar regiment. The discipline of the German Army greatly impressed him.<ref name="germanarmy">{{Cite news|url=https://timesmachine.nytimes.com/timesmachine/1892/05/17/108213081.pdf|title=German Army Discipline|date=May 17, 1892|work=The New York Times|access-date=April 13, 2009 }}</ref>
He was back with the 10th Cavalry by early 1892. From 1892 until his death in 1893, he lived in Fort Custer, Montana. In 1892 he married Elizabeth Clemens of St. Louis, Missouri; they had one son. After diving into shallow water and striking his head, Clarke drowned in the Little Bighorn River on July 21, 1893,<ref name="clarkedrowing">{{Cite news|url=https://chroniclingamerica.loc.gov/lccn/sn83045462/1893-07-26/ed-1/seq-1/|title=Lieut. Clarke's Death|date=July 26, 1893|work=Evening Star|access-date=July 13, 2021 }}</ref> and was buried at Calvary Cemetery in St. Louis, Missouri.<ref name="clarke10th"/>
Clarke's granddaughter, Bayard Wootten of New Bern North Carolina, was a photographer. Clarke's sister was a writer.{{cn|date=January 2025}}
==Medal of Honor citation== Rank and organization: Second Lieutenant, 10th U.S. Cavalry. Place and date: At Pinito Mountains, Sonora, Mex., May 3, 1886. Entered service at: Baltimore, Md. Birth: Alexandria, La. Date of issue: March 12, 1891.<ref name="indianwars"/>
'''Citation:''' <blockquote>Rushed forward to the rescue of a soldier who was severely wounded and lay, disabled, exposed to the enemy's fire, and carried him to a place of safety.</blockquote>
==See also== *List of Medal of Honor recipients *List of Medal of Honor recipients for the Indian Wars {{clear}}{{Portal|Biography|United States}} ==References== :{{ACMH}} {{Reflist}} Photo courtesy of the Helen and Alfred Wettermark Collection
==Bibliography== *{{Cite book|title=Encyclopedia of Frontier Biography: A–F|last=Thrapp|first=Dan L.|year=1991|publisher=University of Nebraska Press|location=Lincoln, NE|isbn=0-8032-9418-2}}
==External links== *{{Find a Grave|18426|work=Claim to Fame: Medal of Honor recipients|accessdate=June 21, 2009}}
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Clarke, Powhatan Henry}} Category:1862 births Category:1893 deaths Category:United States Army Medal of Honor recipients Category:People from Alexandria, Louisiana Category:United States Military Academy alumni Category:People of the Apache Wars Category:American Indian Wars recipients of the Medal of Honor Category:Deaths by drowning in Montana Category:Burials at Calvary Cemetery (St. Louis) Category:American expatriates in Germany Category:Members of the Sons of the American Revolution Category:Military personnel from Louisiana