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Spanish American War Congressional Medal of Honor Recipient Sgt. Andrew Johnson Cummins, 10th U.S. Infantry
(1868 - September 15, 1923)
Forgotten hero won Medal of Honor in 1899
by Ken de la Bastide
Most county resident are aware that Melvin Bud Biddle received the nations highest honor during World War II, but very few would know the name of Andrew J. Cummins, who the first Madison County resident to win the Congressional Medal of Honor.
Alexandria resident Andrew J. Cummins was awarded the nations honor on June 22, 1899 for actions that took place at San Juan Hill in Cuba during the Spanish-American War on July 1, 1898.
He was born in Alexandria on Dec. 6, 1887.
Mildred Ray, 88, Anderson is Cummins only living relative remaining in Madison County.
Im doing this for him, said Ray on Tuesday. He never got the recognition he deserved.
Ray said that Cummins was her mothers brother, but that she never met him.
My family never talked about it, she said of Cummins Medal of Honor. I didnt know anything about it until I got a letter from a man in Wisconsin in 1978 who was writing a book.
I didnt know what to think, Ray said. I dont know much about my family. Im proud. I would have like to have known him.
After the war, Cummins, who was a farmer, moved to North Dakota and eventually settled in Lewiston, Montana, where he died on Sept. 15, 1923. In Montana he worked as a laborer for the railroad.
Ray said she met Cummins wife, Emma, who returned to Indiana after his death in 1937.
According to historical records, Cummins enlisted in the Army on Jan. 6, 1891 and served in Company F, 10th U.S. Infantry and was discharged at Fort Reno, Oklahoma Territory, on Jan. 5, 1896. The very next day he re-enlisted in the same unit and served with the 10th Infantry during the Spanish-American War.
An account in The Alexandrian relates that Sergeant Cummins regiment was the first to land in Cuba on July, 1, 1898. The unit was in the thickest of the fighting on the island when it led the advance in the final charge on San Juan Hill under terrific fire from the Spaniards.
Cummins men forged ahead of the line until they had advanced 200 yards into enemy territory, the newspaper account states. When the company was ordered to fall back, several men were wounded, including Cummins, whos thumb was severed by a bullet and his side torn.
When he noticed that Private Dennis Wartle had fallen, mortally wounded, Cummins with disdain for his own safety, turned back into a storm of bullets and carried his comrade safely from the range of Spanish sharpshooters to the American lines, the account continues.
During his military career, Cummins won five other medals for distinguished performance.
The Congressional Medal of Honor citation reads the medal was awarded for gallantly assisting in the rescue of the wounded in front of the lines and under heavy fire of the enemy at the Battle of San Juan Hill.
Ray said that the whereabouts of Cummins Medal of Honor is not known.
The following statement is attributed to Cummins as a message to youth in the same newspaper account:
Do your duty everyday in little things. Then, when a real crisis comes, you will of habit perform the manly, courageous act. Your greatest reward will not be contained in any medal or citation read, but in your own satisfaction that you have played a mans part. Every night you can feel some such satisfaction from acts of duty performed during the day.
Earlier this year the Madison County Commissioners named a bridge over Fall Creek in the southern part of the county to honor Biddles winning of the Congressional Medal of Honor.
Mildred Ray holds a picture of her uncle, Andrew Cummins, who won the Medal of Honor in 1899.
THB photo / Perry Reichanadter
CITATION:
Rank and organization: Sergeant, Company F, 10th U.S. Infantry. Place and date: At Santiago, Cuba, 1 July 1898. Entered service at: ______. Birth: Alexandria, Ind. Date of issue: 22 June 1899. Citation: Gallantly assisted in the rescue of the wounded from in front of the lines and under heavy fire of the enemy.
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