Orizoba O. Spence
Headboard of O. O. Spence
Born1847
Tionesta, Pennsylvania
DiedApril 7, 1876(1876-04-07) (aged 28–29)
Sulphur Springs, Arizona Territory
Place of burial
Fort Bowie Post Cemetery
AllegianceUnited States of America
Service/branchUnited States Army
RankSergeant
UnitCompany G, 8th Cavalry Regiment
Battles/warsIndian Wars
AwardsMedal of Honor

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.[1]

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.[2]

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.[2]

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.[3] The two were initially buried at the station, however, the bodies were later exhumed for interment at Fort Bowie.[2]

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.

See also

References

  1. ↑ "Orizoba Spence". Hall of Valor. Military Times. Retrieved January 17, 2019.
  2. 1 2 3 Fort Bowie Cemetery Graves, National Park Service
  3. ↑ A historical and biographical record of the territory of Arizona. (1896). Chicago: McFarland & Poole.
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