Please excuse me adding a bit of my opinion in this otherwise factual account.
In 1890, the Lakota Sioux had hit rock bottom just 14 years after their famous victory at the Little Big Horn. The buffalo had been almost killed into extinction and miners and settlers were encroaching on Sioux lands unchecked by the US government. Most of the tribe had been forced onto reservations where they faced starvation due to poor harvests and reduced rations and supplies promised by treaties. Add to this, the Indian way of life was being destroyed. In this depressing situation, many of the Sioux turned to the Ghost Dance. Believers did this dance in the hope that whites would disappear, the buffalo would return in great numbers, and the Indian way of life would be restored. Whites panicked because they thought the dance would lead to rebellion. A consequence was the death of Sitting Bull when he was being arrested by Indian police because he was deemed a troublemaker.
The “battle” of Wounded Knee occurred when a group of Indians led by Spotted Elk was moving to the Pine Ridge Agency (Red Cloud) for safety. The 350 or so were stopped by the 7th Cavalry (Custer’s unit) and forced to camp at Wounded Knee Creek. Col. James Forsyth surrounded the camp with his troopers and four rapid firing Hotchkiss mountain guns. He then ordered forcible confiscation of Indian weapons. Most of the Indian men gave up a variety of guns. The shooting began when a deaf Indian named Black Coyote refused to give up his rifle. The gun went off during the struggle to get it out of his hands. This resulted in the whites opening fire. Some of the Indians pulled out hidden guns and attempted to defend themselves. Most of these were killed in a blaze of gunfire. The rest of the Indians were caught off guard and unarmed. The Hotchkiss guns targeted the tipis, killing women and children and forcing the rest to make a run for it on the prairie. Some took refuge in a ravine which was assaulted by the out of-control soldiers. Others were chased down in the open and killed. Maj. Gen. Nelson Miles, Forsyth’s superior officer wrote the next year, “I have never heard of a more brutal, cold-blooded massacre than that at Wounded Knee.” Most historians agree with that assessment.
It was much more of a massacre than a battle. Up to 300 Indians were killed. 25 soldiers died, many from friendly fire (when you form a circle and then open fire…). In 1891, 20 Medals of Honor were awarded to soldiers for their “conspicuous bravery”, “distinguished bravery”, “bravery”, or “extraordinary gallentry”. Some were earned for saving wounded soldiers. (Imagine how many Medals of Honor would have been awarded in the Vietnam War if that’s what it took to get the Medal of Honor.) Others were singled out for leading the attack on the ravine. One of the certificates credited the recipient with: “While the Indians were concealed in a ravine, he assisted men on the skirmish line, directing their fire, etc., and using every effort to dislodge the enemy [i.e., women and children].” One was for bravely dealing with a stampeded pack mule.
Needless to say, some of the 20 had not performed bravery worthy of the nation’s highest medal. However, since there were no Distinguished Service Crosses, Silver Stars, or Bronze Stars, the Medal of Honor was the only way to reward bravery until WWI. In 1916, all Medals of Honor were reviewed to see if they met the standard that since then has been maintained for the medal. The medal has since been awarded only for extraordinary bravery. 911 medals were rescinded. Most of them for actions that fell well short of extraordinary bravery. None of the Wounded Knee medals were rescinded.
In 2024, Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin III established a panel to review the Wounded Knee medals to determine if they should be rescinded. The panel had not officially issued its findings by the time the Trump administration took over, but it apparently had decided the medals should remain because the awarding was based on a much looser standard at the time. However, the 1916 review did not use that reasoning when it rescinded a large number of medals, so the panel could have used the stricter modern standard if it had wanted to.
Recently, the current Secretary of War Pete Hegseth has laid the matter to rest by proclaiming that none of the medals will be tampered with. “We salute their memory, we honor their service, and we will never forget what they did.” (It could be argued that forgetting what they did is essential in letting the medals stand.) He added that the men” deserved the medal”. Instead of simply saying that the medals will not be rescinded because it was not unusual to give medals for a lower standard of bravery (e.g. 24 Medals of Honor were awarded to participants in the defense of Reno Hill during the Battle of Little Big Horn), Hegseth decided to proclaim that the men who participated in a very one-sided incident DESERVED the Medal of Honor. Go and read a certificate for any Medal of Honor awarded in WWII and then read the certificate of any of the Wounded Knee troopers. Then explain how 7 Marines received Medals of Honor for Iwo Jima, but 20 soldiers got it for a massacre of mostly defenseless Indians.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wounded_Knee_Massacre
https://www.wearethemighty.com/history/medals-of-honor-from-wounded-knee/
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