Albert W. McMillan

Albert Walter McMillan (October 13, 1862 - October 2, 1948) was a soldier, lawyer, and Medal of Honor recipient from Minnesota who took part in the Wounded Knee Massacre during the Ghost Dance War on December 29, 1890.

Albert Walter McMillan was born on October 13, 1862 in Stillwater, Minnesota, he was the son of Minnesota senator and lawyer Samuel J. R. McMillan and Harriet Elizabeth Butler.^[1] McMillan studied at Princeton University in New Jersey from 1883-1885, in 1884 McMillan was the class president of Princeton and in 1883 was a clerk for the United States Senate Committee on the Judiciary.^[1][2]

McMillan joined the United States Army on August 15, 1887 at Jefferson Barracks in Missouri.^[1] McMillan was assigned to Troop E of the 7th Cavalry Regiment under the command of Captain Charles Stillman Ilsley a veteran of the American Civil War.^[1][3] McMillan was recognized by Captain Ilsely as an educated and talented man and was quickly promoted to the rank of Sergeant of E Troop.^[4]

The 7th Cavalry was requested at the Pine Ridge Indian Reservation on December 29, 1890 in order to confiscate weapons from the Miniconjou Lakota and the Hunkpapa Lakota under Chief Spotted Elk near Porcupine Butte in South Dakota. The botched disarmament of Spotted Elk's band of Lakota led to the ensuing Wounded Knee Massacre which ended up killing between 250-300 Lakota people.^[5] During the ensuing firefight Sergeant William G. Austin and Sergeant McMillan were noted for leading E Troop of the 7th Cavalry in concentrating their rifle fire into a nearby ravine and for their continued effort in supporting their men and attempting to "dislodge the enemy" from the vicinity.^[2][6]

When the 7th Cavalry's Sergeant Major Richard Winick Corwine was killed on December 29, 1890, McMillan was quickly considered for promotion and was eventually promoted to Sergeant Major in the spring of 1891.^[1][7] Corwine was one of 31 other Untied States soldiers to be killed during the Wounded Knee Massacre.^[7] In April of 1891 McMillan requested to be demoted in rank to Private, likely due to not wanting the responsibilities as the regiment's Sergeant Major.

McMillan was awarded the Medal of Honor for his actions at Wounded Knee on June 25, 1891.^[1] McMillan was one of nineteen total soldiers who were awarded the Medal of Honor at Wounded Knee. A total of 31 recipients received the Medal of Honor for the overall campaign.^[8][9][10] Other members of McMillan's troop who were also awarded the Medal of Honor include Thomas Sullivan and Mosheim Feaster. McMillan's Medal of Honor citation reads as follows:

"The President of the United States of America, in the name of Congress, takes pleasure in presenting the Medal of Honor to Sergeant Albert Walter McMillian, United States Army, for extraordinary heroism on 29 December 1890, while serving with Company E, 7th U.S. Cavalry, in action at Wounded Knee Creek, South Dakota. While engaged with Indians concealed in a ravine, Sergeant McMillian assisted the men on the skirmish line, directed their fire, encouraged them by example, and used every effort to dislodge the enemy".^[2][6]

Following Wounded Knee, McMillan studied at the University of Minnesota and graduated with a bachelors degree in law in 1894, he later worked as the legal editor of the West Publishing Company in Eagan, Minnesota.^[4] After the war McMillan is noted as suffering from a form of post-traumatic stress disorder and had difficulties with employment because of it.^[4] McMillan later served in the International Red Cross and Red Crescent Movement during World War I, later retiring in Sacramento, California. McMillan died on October 2, 1948 at the age of 85 in Sacramento. He is buried in Oakland Cemetery in Saint Paul, Minnesota next to his father Samuel.^[4]