Orizoba Spence

 ( American People Of The Indian Wars ) 

Orizoba O. Spence (1847 – April 7, 1876), alternatively spelled Orisoba, was a sergeant in the United States Army who received the Medal of Honor for gallantry in action during the Indian Wars.

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Biography Spence was born in 1847 in Tionesta, Pennsylvania, and joined the Army in 1868. He was stationed at Fort Bowie in the Arizona Territory with Company G of the 8th Cavalry Regiment. On October 20, 1869, Spence earned a Medal of Honor for gallantry after a battle against a band of Apaches led by Cochise. Fort Bowie Cemetery Graves, National Park Service

Spence was discharged from the army as a sergeant at Fort Selden, New Mexico in 1873. He married in 1874 and briefly resided in Grant County, New Mexico. He went on to work as a cook at the overland mail stage station at Sulphur Springs in the Arizona Territory.

On April 7, 1876, the station was raided by a band of Apaches led by Pionsenay after an argument over whiskey sales. Pionsenay shot and killed Spence and Nicholas Rogers, the station operator. A historical and biographical record of the territory of Arizona. (1896). Chicago: McFarland & Poole. The two were initially buried at the station, however, the bodies were later exhumed for interment at Fort Bowie.

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Medal of Honor citation Rank and organization: Private, Company G, 8th Cavalry Regiment. Place and date: At Chiricahua Mountains, Ariz., October 20, 1869. Entered service at: Tionesta, Pa. Birth: Forest County, Pa. Date of issue: February 14, 1870.

Citation:

Gallantry in action.

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See also

• List of Medal of Honor recipients for the Indian Wars

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