Question: Wilhelm O. Philipsen served as blackmith in a historical unit of the United States Army, that began its service in the decade prior to what war?

Context paragraphs:
Army Historical Program: The Army Historical Program is the collective effort of a number of United States Army historical organizations to capture, record and preserve the history of the United States Army.  The Program is led by the United States Army Center of Military History, which creates the regulations and procedures for collecting, recording and regulating historical materials, and includes other organizations and individuals, including unit historians, the Army Heritage and Education Center and the Combat Studies Institute.

Wilhelm O. Philipsen: Wilhelm O. Philipsen (1852–1913), a recipient of the Medal of Honor, served as a blacksmith in Company D of the U.S. Army’s 5th Cavalry Regiment during the Battle of Milk Creek in 1879.  He was among 10 cavalrymen who volunteered to form a skirmish line on September 29, 1879 while Company D retreated from an attack by the White River Utes.  Philipsen and the other volunteers were awarded the Medal of Honor for bravery in defending their unit during this retreat.

Alcide M. Lanoue: Alcide Moodie Lanoue (born November 2, 1934) is a retired lieutenant general in the United States Army.  He was Surgeon General of the United States Army from September 1992 to September 1996.  He attended The Medical Field Service School and the United States Army Command and General Staff College.  He is also an alumnus of Harvard University and Yale University School of Medicine.  He is an orthopedic surgeon.  Prior to his stint as Surgeon General, Lanoue was Commander of the Eisenhower Army Medical Center, Commandant of the United States Army Academy of Health Sciences, Deputy Surgeon General of the Army, and Commanding General of the United States Army Health Services Command.

Second Army Air Service: The Second Army Air Service was an Air Service, United States Army unit that fought on the Western Front during World War I as part of the Air Service, Second United States Army.  It was demobilized in France on 15 April 1919 with the demobilization of the United States Second Army.  There is no modern United States Air Force unit that shares its lineage and history.

Albert Lybrock: Albert Lybrock (18271886) was a German-born architect in the United States.  The most well known work of his early career is the James Monroe Tomb.  He was the most important architect in Richmond during the booming decade prior to the American Civil War.  He also gave financial support for a regiment of local German-Americans in the Confederate States Army.  He had the Haxall and Morson families as clients and may have been the designer of Morson’s Row and the Bolling Haxall House.  Carl Ruehrmund worked together with him.

Lloyd Austin: Lloyd James Austin III (born August 8, 1953) is a retired United States Army general.  He was the 12th commander of United States Central Command (CENTCOM).  Austin was the first African American to head the organization.  Prior to his assignment in CENTCOM, Austin served as the 33rd Vice Chief of Staff of the United States Army from January 31, 2012, to March 8, 2013.  His assignments prior to CENTCOM were as the last Commanding General of United States Forces - Iraq, Operation New Dawn, which ended on December 18, 2011, and then Vice Chief of Staff of the United States Army.  On December 6, 2012, the Pentagon announced that President Barack Obama had nominated Austin to lead the U.S. Central Command.  Austin was confirmed by the U.S. Senate on March 5, 2013, and assumed command on March 22, 2013.  On April 5, 2016, Austin's retirement ceremony took place at Joint Base Myer–Henderson Hall.  He received the Defense Distinguished Service Medal, the Army Distinguished Service Medal, the Defense Superior Service Medal, the Legion of Merit, and others.

James A. Helis: Dr. James A. Helis, Rear Admiral (United States Maritime Service), is the twelfth Superintendent of the United States Merchant Marine Academy.  A 1979 graduate of the United States Military Academy at West Point, New York, and a decorated Afghanistan War veteran, Helis served thirty years in the US Army, retiring at the rank of Colonel (United States Army).  In 2012, Helis was commissioned a United States Maritime Service Rear Admiral and appointed Superintendent of the United States Merchant Marine Academy by US Secretary of Transportation Ray LaHood.  Helis served his last eight years with the U.S. Army as an academic, culminating as Chair of the Department of National Security and Strategy at the United States Army War College, Carlisle, Pennsylvania.  Helis earned a Master of Arts in political science from the University of Pennsylvania, a Master of Military Affairs from the United States Army Command and General Staff College, School of Advanced Military Studies at Fort Leavenworth, Kansas, and a Doctor of Philosophy in international relations from the Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy at Tufts University.  An airborne United States Army Ranger, Helis was awarded the Army Master Parachutist Badge.  Helis and his wife Jan have two sons, Dr. Corbin Helis, a physician and West Point graduate, and Ian Helis.

5th Cavalry Regiment: The 5th Cavalry Regiment ("Black Knights") is a historical unit of the United States Army that began its service in the decade prior to the American Civil War and continues in modified organizational format in the U.S. Army.

Elliott-Donaldson House: The Elliott-Donaldson House is a historic mansion in Okolona, Mississippi, U.S..  It was built in 1850, a decade prior to the American Civil War of 1861-1865.  By the end of the war, in 1865, Confederate States Army General Nathan Bedford Forrest stayed in the house to rest.  It has been listed on the National Register of Historic Places since September 15, 1980.

332nd Engineer General Service Regiment: 332nd Engineer General Service Regiment or 332nd Engineer Regiment was activated as a Special Service Regiment in May 1942, as a unit in the United States Army.  Later this unit was redesignated a General Service Regiment.  The unit was formed from some regular Army officers and enlisted men, trained in the United States, then shipped overseas early in World War II to England.  They were the vanguard of many others to follow, including infantry and armored troops.  Their purpose was to build facilities in preparation for those to follow.  After the Normandy Invasion, they followed the front lines constructing roads, railroad bridges, hospitals, and other infrastructure needed by the advancing Armies.  Continuing through until surrender by Germany in 1945, the unit stayed on as part of the Army of Occupation.  Many of the troops in the units were among those who were overseas for the longest periods of all in World War II.

Supporting paragraphs: Wilhelm O. Philipsen 5th Cavalry Regiment
Answer: American Civil War