Theodore W . Goldin Theodore W . Goldin ( July 25 , 1858 – February 15 , 1935 ) served in the United States Army during the American Indian Wars . He received the Medal of Honor for his actions during the Battle of the Little Bighorn . Early and personal life . Goldin was adopted as an infant by Reuben W . Goldin and Elizabeth E . Bradfield Goldin of Avon , Wisconsin . His birth name has been lost . When Goldin was four , his family moved to Brodhead , Wisconsin . Goldin married Laura Belle Dunwiddie in 1881 . The couple had one son , Herbert D . Goldin , in 1884 . Laura died in 1911 , and Goldin married Sarah J . Murphy in 1929 . Indian Wars . Goldin enlisted in the U . S . Army on April 8 , 1876 , lying about his age . ( His year of birth is thus often incorrectly listed as 1855 . ) He was assigned to the 7th U . S . Cavalry . Less than three months later , Goldin ' s regiment fought in the Battle of Little Bighorn . Goldin also took part in the Battle of Bear Paw in September and October 1877 . He was discharged from the Army on November 13 , 1877 for having enlisted under false pretenses , after his parents appealed to the Army for his discharge . Post - war career . Goldin began studying law in 1881 , and was admitted to the bar in 1882 . He was elected as clerk of the circuit court of Green County in fall of that year . He served as assistant chief clerk of the Wisconsin State Assembly from 1882 to 1885 . He became a Mason in 1883 , eventually rising to the 33 - degree in 1902 . Goldin moved in Janesville in 1885 , where he engaged in private practice . In 1889 , Goldin was appointed a colonel in the Wisconsin National Guard . From 1894 to 1896 he was president of the Janesville Board of Education , and in 1895 - 1903 was clerk of the circuit court for Rock County . From 1903 to 1904 , Goldin was chief clerk of the Wisconsin Senate . Around the start of the 20th century , Goldin served as Chairman of the Republican Party of Wisconsin . In 1904 , Goldin sided with the Stalwarts in the Republican Party of Wisconsin : a conservative faction led by Senator John Coit Spooner that was opposed to Governor Robert M . La Follette , Sr . running for a third term . The " Spooner Faction " , with Goldin as its chairman , was successful in getting their splinter party recognized over the liberal La Follette faction by the Republican National Committee for the 1904 elections . Goldin soon after moved to Kansas City , Missouri , where he worked as a director of the YMCA in 1907 . He wandered around the southwestern United States , landing in Oklahoma City in 1911 , Colorado and El Paso , Texas in 1912 . He retired to the Masonic Home in Dousman , Wisconsin in 1924 . In 1929 , he moved to the Wisconsin Veterans Home in King , Wisconsin , where he died in 1935 . Controversy and Honor for the Battle of Little Big Horn . Beginning with a letter to the editor published in the " Janesville Daily Gazette " in 1886 , Goldin began to publish his version of the Battle of Little Big Horn , in which he castigated Major Marcus Reno and praised General George A . Custer . Goldin claimed that Custer gave him a last message to be carried to Reno , shortly before Custer was killed . Goldin also campaigned to be awarded the Medal of Honor for his role in the Battle of Little Big Horn , writing to Captain Frederick Benteen and speaking to Lieutenant Luther Hare in person . In 1896 Joseph Doe , a fellow Wisconsin politician and Mason , and also Assistant Secretary of War , found that there sufficient evidence for approval of a Medal of Honor for Goldin . As the years went by , Goldin embellished his role in the battle more and more . The height of embellishment is found in a chapter in the book " Northwestern fights and fighters " by Cyrus Townsend Brady . In addition to his claims of carrying Custer ' s last dispatch , Goldin claimed he joined the Seventh Cavalry in 1873 , witnessed the death of Lt . Benjamin Hodgson , and was present for a discussion of strategy between Captain Myles Keogh and General Custer . When others challenged his claims , Goldin claimed that Brady had distorted his letter . Goldin ' s embellishments did not stop at his role in the Battle of Little Big Horn . He also added to his own personal biography . In a sketch published in a book about Rock County , he claimed to have been born in 1855 , studied at Tilton University for four years and then , at age twenty , enlisted in the Army , where he served for nearly four years . The book also claims he was wounded twice at the Battle of Little Big Horn and was discharged due to disability . In 1924 , a Missouri congressman helped Goldin obtain a pension as a Medal of Honor recipient through a special act of Congress . In 1927 , he was able to change his discharge from " not honorable " ( due to his lies about his age ) to " honorable " with the help of prominent friends . He was buried in King , Wisconsin . Goldin carried on , for some years between 1891 and 1896 , a correspondence with Captain Benteen , and the two became friends . Benteen ' s letters ( but not Goldin ' s replies , which have not been preserved ) were eventually published as the " Benteen - Goldin Letters " and are one of the few primary sources for Benteen ' s views on the battle . Medal of Honor citation . His award citation for his actions in the Battle of Little Big Horn reads : One of a party of volunteers who , under a heavy fire from the Indians , went for and brought water to the wounded .