Dr. James Madison DeWolf (January 14, 1843 – June 25, 1876) was an acting assistant surgeon in the U.S. 7th Cavalry Regiment

U.S. 7th Cavalry Regiment

The 7th Cavalry Regiment is a United States Army Cavalry Regiment, whose lineage traces back to the mid-19th century. Its official nickname is "Garryowen," in honor of the Irish air Garryowen that was adopted as its march tune....

 who was killed in the Battle of the Little Big Horn.

Born in Mehoopany in Wyoming County, Pennsylvania

Wyoming County, Pennsylvania

Wyoming County is a county located in the U.S. state of Pennsylvania. It was created in 1842 from part of Luzerne County. Its county seat is Tunkhannock.-Geography:According to the U.S...

, DeWolf was a farmer prior to the American Civil War

American Civil War

The American Civil War was a civil war fought in the United States of America. In response to the election of Abraham Lincoln as President of the United States, 11 southern slave states declared their secession from the United States and formed the Confederate States of America ; the other 25...

. In August 1861, he enlisted in the Union Army

Union Army

The Union Army was the land force that fought for the Union during the American Civil War. It was also known as the Federal Army, the U.S. Army, the Northern Army and the National Army...

 in the 1st Pennsylvania Artillery at the age of 17. He first saw combat at the First Battle of Bull Run

First Battle of Bull Run

First Battle of Bull Run, also known as First Manassas , was fought on July 21, 1861, in Prince William County, Virginia, near the City of Manassas...

. He was promoted to Corporal, but was severely wounded in the arm and discharged in October 1862. He re-enlisted in September 1864 in Battery A, 1st Pennsylvania Artillery, serving in that battery until his discharge on June 14, 1865.

Following the war, he became an enlisted man in the Regular Army

Regular Army

The Regular Army of the United States was and is the successor to the Continental Army as the country's permanent, professional military establishment. Even in modern times the professional core of the United States Army continues to be called the Regular Army...

's 14th U.S. Infantry and entered Harvard Medical School

Harvard Medical School

Harvard Medical School is the graduate medical school of Harvard University. It is located in the Longwood Medical Area of the Mission Hill neighborhood of Boston, Massachusetts....

, graduating in June 1875. He became a contract surgeon later that year with the 7th Cavalry at Fort Abraham Lincoln

Fort Abraham Lincoln

Fort Abraham Lincoln State Park is located seven miles south of Mandan, North Dakota. The park is home to On-A-Slant Indian Village, the blockhouses and the Custer house...

 in the Dakota Territory

Dakota Territory

The Territory of Dakota was an organized incorporated territory of the United States that existed from March 2, 1861, until November 2, 1889, when the final extent of the reduced territory was split and admitted to the Union as the states of North and South Dakota.The Dakota Territory consisted of...

.

In the spring of 1876, he was assigned to Major

Major (United States)

In the United States Army, Air Force, and Marine Corps, major is a field grade military officer rank just above the rank of captain and just below the rank of lieutenant colonel...

 Marcus Reno

Marcus Reno

Marcus Albert Reno was a career military officer in the American Civil War and in the Black Hills War against the Lakota and Northern Cheyenne...

's battalion

Battalion

A battalion is a military unit of around 300–1,200 soldiers usually consisting of between two and seven companies and typically commanded by either a Lieutenant Colonel or a Colonel...

. A letter to his wife is the only first-hand account of Reno's scouting expedition to the Black Hills. Dr. DeWolf was killed June 25 during Reno's retreat from the wood to "Reno Hill". He and his orderly had made the difficult crossing of the buffalo ford and for some reason, were going up a side path in a coulee

Coulee

Coulee is applied rather loosely to different landforms, all of which refer to a kind of valley or drainage zone.The word coulee comes from the Canadian French coulée, from French word couler meaning "to flow"....

. As DeWolf reached the top of the coulee, he was shot.

He was initially buried on the battlefield near where he fell, then moved to the National Cemetery. As an officer, Dr. DeWolf's remains were exhumed and returned to his family in 1877. He was reinterred in Woodlawn Cemetery in Norwalk

Norwalk, Ohio

At the 2000 census, there were 16,238 people, 6,377 households and 4,234 families residing in the city. The population density was 1,950.3 per square mile . There were 6,687 housing units at an average density of 803.1 per square mile...

, Ohio

Ohio

Ohio is a Midwestern state in the United States. The 34th largest state by area in the U.S.,it is the 7th‑most populous with over 11.5 million residents, containing several major American cities and seven metropolitan areas with populations of 500,000 or more.The state's capital is Columbus...

. Evan S. Connell

Evan S. Connell

Evan Shelby Connell, Jr. is an American novelist, poet, and short story-writer. He has also published under the name Evan S. Connell, Jr. His writing has covered a variety of genres, although he has published most frequently in fiction.In 2009, Connell was nominated for the Man Booker...

, in Son of the Morning Star

Son of the Morning Star

Son of the Morning Star is a 1984 non-fiction book on the subject of George Armstrong Custer, with the subtitle 'Custer and the Little Bighorn'. A 1991 television film was based on the book. Both the book and the film chronicle the Battle of the Little Bighorn, the personalities involved, and the...

, stated that there is only one photograph known of him.