Henry C . Merriam Henry Clay Merriam ( November 13 , 1837 – November 12 , 1912 ) was a United States Army general . He received the United States military ' s highest decoration , the Medal of Honor , for his actions as a Union officer in command of African American troops during the American Civil War . He later served in various Indian Wars throughout the western United States and commanded the 7th Infantry Regiment . After being promoted to brigadier general , he took on a training and supply role during the Philippine – American War . Early life and Civil War service . Merriam was born in Houlton , Maine , to Lewis and Mary ( Foss ) Merriam . He attended Colby College in Waterville but left school in 1862 to join the 20th Maine Volunteer Infantry Regiment as a captain . He participated in the Battle of Antietam on September 17 and received a brevet promotion to lieutenant colonel for his actions there . In 1863 , he went to Louisiana to help recruit African American troops and was placed in command of the 1st Louisiana Native Guard . He led this regiment at the Siege of Port Hudson on May 27 , 1863 . Two years later , after the unit had been re - organized as the 73rd Infantry Regiment , United States Colored Troops , he led an attack on Confederate positions at Fort Blakely in Baldwin County , Alabama , on April 9 , 1865 . For these actions , he was brevetted colonel and , several decades later on June 28 , 1894 , awarded the Medal of Honor . His official Medal of Honor citation reads : " Volunteered to attack the enemy ' s works in advance of orders and , upon permission being given , made a most gallant assault . " Indian Wars period . After being mustered out of the Army on October 24 , 1865 , Merriam began studying law . Less than a year later , on July 28 , 1866 , he returned to the military as a major in the 38th Infantry Regiment . He served with this unit during expeditions against Native Americans in Kansas in 1867 . While in commanded of Fort McIntosh on the Texas – Mexico border in 1876 , he bombarded Mexican forces which had committed " outrages " against Americans and he crossed the border to rescue a kidnapped U . S . commercial agent . After being promoted to lieutenant colonel and assigned to the 2nd Infantry Regiment on June 10 , 1876 , he was sent to the northwestern U . S . during the Nez Perce War . In Idaho and Washington , he managed Native American tribes and was commended by his superiors for his success in gathering the Indians on reservations and opening land for white settlers . On July 10 , 1885 , Merriam was promoted to colonel of the 7th Infantry Regiment and commanded Fort Laramie , Wyoming , for the next four years . After being re - stationed in Fort Logan , Colorado , he led troops along the Cheyenne River in South Dakota during the Sioux uprising which followed the death of Sitting Bull . Later career . Appointed brigadier general on June 30 , 1897 , Merriam was transferred to the Department of the Columbia , which covered the northwestern United States . During this time , he organized a rescue mission to save miners in Alaska who had been trapped by mid - winter weather . At the outset of the Spanish – American War , he was named major general of volunteers and placed in command of the entire U . S . Pacific coast , including Hawaii . His duties included equipping , training , and transporting units bound for the ensuing Philippine – American War . In January 1899 , he left his western post and took command of the Departments of the Colorado and the Missouri . He retired from the Army in 1901 , having reached the mandatory retirement age . By a special act of Congress on February 5 , 1903 , he was promoted in retirement to major general . He was the inventor of the " Merriam Pack " which was used by infantry soldiers . He married Una MacPherson at Fort Brown , Texas , in 1874 and had three sons and two daughters . Merriam died one day before his 75th birthday and was buried in Arlington National Cemetery .