Matthias W . Day Matthias W . Day ( August 8 , 1853 – September 12 , 1927 ) was a career American army officer who received the Medal of Honor , the United States ' highest military decoration , for his actions during the American Indian Wars in the latter half of the 19th century . Day was a longtime officer with the African - American 9th Cavalry Regiment , seeing action during the Apache Wars against the Apache leaders Victorio and Geronimo . Day later achieved fame as a marksman while participating in the U . S . Army ' s annual rifle marksmanship contest , and served in the Philippines during the Philippine - American War . He eventually rose to the rank of colonel and served as the commander of his old unit , the 9th Cavalry . West Point . Mathias Walter Day was the second of seven children of Mathias Day ( the founder of Daytona Beach , Florida ) and Mary Blymyer , both native Ohioans . He was accepted to the United States Military Academy at West Point in 1873 . A graduate of the class of 1877 alongside Henry Ossian Flipper , the first African - American to graduate from West Point , Day was popular with his classmates , but was " ranked close enough to the bottom to be assigned to a black regiment " . Day was not assigned to the 9th Cavalry Regiment until August , 1878 . The 9th Cavalry was one of four African - American regiments which became known as the " Buffalo Soldier s " . Day was ordered to El Paso , Texas , where he assumed command of A Troop . Service in the American Indian Wars . In 1879 , Day and his troop were transferred west to New Mexico where they joined the rest of the regiment . After the Apache chief Victorio launched two successful raids on 9th Cavalry outposts near the Warm Springs Reservation after he left the San Carlos Reservation on August 21 , the rest of the regiment was mobilized to go after him , marking the beginning of the Victorio Campaign . On the morning of September 18 , Day , along with Captain Byron Dawson and twenty - two men of Troops A and B together with three Navajo Scouts , were following Victorio ' s trail through Las Animas Canyon in New Mexico . Here , they fell into an ambush , with the Apache above them on three sides of the canyon pinning them down with rifle fire . They were subsequently reinforced by two companies led by Captain Charles Beyer , which made contact with them but were unable to drive the Apaches from their positions . By the end of the day , the trapped troopers were running low on ammunition . His own ammunition supply running short , Beyer ordered a withdrawal and had Dawson withdraw his men under covering fire to avoid encirclement . Day noticed two wounded men caught out in the open some distance from their position , exposed to enemy fire and unable to move . Assisted by Sergeant John Denny , who helped support one man , Day carried the other on his back through " a hail of bullets so thick it seemed ' no one could pass this open rocky space alive ' " to safety . Despite his heroism , Captain Beyer was furious with Day for disobeying orders and his commanding officer , Lieutenant Colonel Nathan Dudley , wanted to court - martial him . However , Day was later cleared by a board of inquiry and subsequently received the Medal of Honor on May 7 , 1890 . John Denny and Second Lieutenant Robert Temple Emmet , who like Day had graduated from West Point in 1877 , also received the Medal of Honor for their actions at Las Animas Canyon . Following Las Animas Canyon , the 9th Cavalry continued its pursuit of Victorio , but he was able to escape across the Mexican border . Taking a break from campaigning , Day was married on Thanksgiving Day , 1879 , to Emilia Schultz , his wedding attended by Governor Lew Wallace . He resumed campaigning against Victorio in 1880 , but apart from two actions in which he was involved in the early part of the year , served as a staff adjutant and later returned to command of A Troop , seeing little action . Victorio was later killed by Mexican forces in October . In late 1881 , the 9th Cavalry was transferred to the Southern Plains . Day was promoted to first lieutenant in 1884 and assigned to I Troop , which was stationed at Fort Reno near present - day Oklahoma City . The troop was responsible for removing white settlers known as " Boomers " from the Unassigned Lands located in the middle of what is now the state of Oklahoma . During this time , Day became something of a celebrity through his skill as a marksman by winning the annual rifle marksmanship contest for the U . S . Army ' s Division of the Missouri . He also captained the team which represented the Division of the Missouri in competition against opposing teams from the Divisions of the Atlantic , Pacific , and artillery . The team won the long - distance target shooting competition and Day himself was acknowledged to be " ' the best skirmisher ' " when involved in a competition that involved " shooting at targets under conditions ' that were an approximation to actual service ' " . In early 1885 , the 9th Cavalry was reposted to Wyoming and Nebraska . Day volunteered for service with the Apache scouts when he learned that the army was in need of officers with desert experience . He participated in a lengthy , strenuous pursuit of Geronimo later in the year that engaged the Apache leader twice and nearly captured him once . Day was eventually reassigned to the 9th Cavalry and served as its regimental quartermaster , a position that he held after the close of the Indian Wars in 1890 . Later career . From 1891 to 1895 , Day was professor of Military Science and Tactics at Mount Union College in Alliance , Ohio . After the United States declared war on Spain on April 21 , 1898 , Captain Day was commissioned a lieutenant colonel of volunteers and assigned to command the 1st Ohio Volunteer Cavalry Regiment , which had been reactivated after being mustered out at the end of the American Civil War . The 1st Ohio was a part of the Second Cavalry Brigade which included among its regiments the 1st United States Volunteer Cavalry , better known as the Rough Riders . The 1st Ohio reported to Port Tampa , Florida on July 12 , for transportation to Cuba , but its sailing was delayed due to a shortage of transports and as a result , the regiment did not see action in the Spanish - American War . Day however , later saw action in the Philippines against the Moros . After postings to various units , he served as the colonel of his old unit , the 9th Cavalry , for a year before retiring from the army in 1912 . Day died on September 12 , 1927 , in Los Angeles , California . He is buried in the San Francisco National Cemetery . Medal of Honor citation . Rank and organization : Second Lieutenant , 9th U . S . Cavalry . Place and date : At Las Animas Canyon , N . Mex . , September 18 , 1879 . Entered service at : Oberlin , Ohio . Birth : Mansfield , Ohio . Date of issue : May 7 , 1890 . Citation : Advanced alone into the enemy ' s lines and carried off a wounded soldier of his command under a hot fire and after he had been ordered to retreat .