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 May 11, 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 June 22, 1899 for his courageous rescues during the Spanish-American War battle on July 01, 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 Sep 21, 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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