Civil War: Company B and D, Native California Cavalry
Indian Wars: Company G, 8th U.S. Cavalry
John Lafferty was born in Utica, Oneida County, New York, August 23, 1835. He married (1) Fanny Ruth Little February 2, 1864. Fanny was born in Barton, Orleans County, Vermont, October 8, 1835. The couple was residing in Sacramento when John enlisted July 6, 1864. He was mustered in at the Presidio of San Francisco July 24 as a 1st Lieutenant in Company B, 1st Battalion, Native California Cavalry. He remained at the Presidio of San Francisco until his company departed in February 1865 for Camp Low, pausing at the Presidio of Monterey en route. Lafferty accompanied his regiment on the long march across the Mojave and Sonoran Deserts to Arizona Territory in June and July 1865. After resting for a few days in Tucson, his company proceeded to Tubac. On August 21 he left Tubac for his new station at Fort Mason. When Captain Thomas Young died of disease on December 2, 1865, Lafferty assumed command of Company D, Native California Cavalry. Lafferty survived the deadly epidemic that struck the post during the fall and winter of 1865-66. He left Fort Mason in late January 1866 and was in Tucson on January 31 en route to Drum Barracks, where he was mustered out March 15, 1866.
After being discharged Lafferty returned to San Francisco to accept a commission as a 2nd Lieutenant in the Regular Army of the United States. He was mustered into the 8th U.S. Cavalry July 28, 1866, and was posted to Nevada. After seeing considerable action, he was promoted to 1st Lieutenant July 31, 1867. In one action he became separated from his command during an engagement with hostile Indians. Cut off and entirely alone, Lt. Lafferty killed two warriors and took two others prisoner. Lafferty was transferred to Fort Bowie, Arizona Territory, in September 1869 and placed in command of Company G, 8th U.S. Cavalry. Fort Bowie was commanded by Colonel Reuben F. Bernard. Lafferty's family remained in San Francisco, perhaps because his wife had recently given birth to their third child. Lafferty left Camp Bowie with Colonel Bernard on a scout on October 6. On October 20 the troops engaged several Apache warriors led by Cochise. The Apaches held a strong defensive position at "Rocky Mesa," just south of a pass in the Chiricahua Mountains. Lafferty was wounded by a bullet that tore away a portion of his lower jaw, taking out twelve lower and four upper teeth and destroying a portion of his tongue and lips. The wound left him with slurred speech and unable to chew his food. Colonel Bernard's superior, Major General Thomas C. Devin, interceded on Lafferty's behalf, urging approval of a transfer, writing that Lafferty was wounded by a ball "which passed clear through his face just below the cheekbone, fracturing and carrying away all his teeth except the three back teeth on each side. He can now only be fed with beef tea and farina. He prefers being ordered in [to San Francisco] to going on sick leave as he would thereby be entitled to transportation and facilities that could not be accorded to an officer on leave. I respectfully submit that his gallant conduct and helpless condition entitle his request to favorable consideration."
The transfer was approved and Lafferty returned to San Francisco to convalesce and spend some time with his family. He eventually returned to active duty. In 1873 he was posted to Fort Union, New Mexico, and served as the depot subsistence officer until being granted sick leave late in 1875. Evidently, while he was at Fort Union, Fanny irked some of the other officers and their wives with her erratic behavior. Lafferty was transferred to San Francisco where he was promoted to Captain on October 3, 1876. Following the recommendation of a medical review board, he retired from the Army on June 28, 1878, and settled into his house at 730 Grove Street. He was still there when the census taker stopped by in June 1880 to find him living with his wife Fanny, sons Frederick Sherman (1865) and John Lovett (1867), and daughters Grace (born 1869) and Harriet (born 1877). John was a member of the Society of California Volunteers, a Union veterans organization, and he served as its president in 1883 (Langley's 1883 S.F. Directory; 108:1).
John's beloved Fanny died on January 7, 1890, the same year the Senate officially recognized the Indian Wars and approved Colonel Bernard's recommendation to award Lafferty a brevet to captain, effective the date of the 1869 engagement. Fanny was buried in the National Cemetery at the Presidio of San Francisco. When his son Frederick's young daughter Enid Lytton Lafferty died on July 26, 1893, she was buried next to her grandmother. Two years later John married (2) Ella J. (maiden name unknown).
He was an active member of the Society of California Volunteers, which met quarterly in San Francisco's Occidental Hotel. Just a few months before his death he attended the society's annual banquet in April 1899, in the company of his old Fort Mason comrade-in-arms, Dr. George B. Tolman. He was also a member of the Military Order of the Loyal Legion of the United States, a Civil War veterans organization composed of former Union officers. John Lafferty died at his home on Grove Street on Sunday, October 15, 1899, and was buried on October 18 in grave OS-45-1 in the National Cemetery at the Presidio of San Francisco, California, next to his wife Fanny and granddaughter Enid.
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Pursuit of the Murderer Mason.
South San Juan, April 12th, 6 pm. Lieutenant Lafferty and detachment returned this moment, bringing with them the captured horse of the murderer Mason. The detachment surprised Mason at seven o'clock this morning, at the head of the Great Panoche Valley. The murderer made the most desperate attempt to escape and finally succeeded, but not until his horse was shot and he himself badly wounded in the hips by a shot from the Lieutenant's pistol. The commanding officer, Captain Jimeno, will send another detachment immediately to keep up the hunt until Mason is either killed or captured. (Alta California [San Francisco], April 13, 1865; 1:7)
---
Children:
- Frederick Sherman (1865-1947)
- John Lovett (1867-1930)
- Grace (1869-)
- Harriet (1877-)
---
Biography by Steve
See Jerry Eagan's "The Case of Lieut. John Lafferty" at www.desertexposure.com.
Indian Wars: Company G, 8th U.S. Cavalry
John Lafferty was born in Utica, Oneida County, New York, August 23, 1835. He married (1) Fanny Ruth Little February 2, 1864. Fanny was born in Barton, Orleans County, Vermont, October 8, 1835. The couple was residing in Sacramento when John enlisted July 6, 1864. He was mustered in at the Presidio of San Francisco July 24 as a 1st Lieutenant in Company B, 1st Battalion, Native California Cavalry. He remained at the Presidio of San Francisco until his company departed in February 1865 for Camp Low, pausing at the Presidio of Monterey en route. Lafferty accompanied his regiment on the long march across the Mojave and Sonoran Deserts to Arizona Territory in June and July 1865. After resting for a few days in Tucson, his company proceeded to Tubac. On August 21 he left Tubac for his new station at Fort Mason. When Captain Thomas Young died of disease on December 2, 1865, Lafferty assumed command of Company D, Native California Cavalry. Lafferty survived the deadly epidemic that struck the post during the fall and winter of 1865-66. He left Fort Mason in late January 1866 and was in Tucson on January 31 en route to Drum Barracks, where he was mustered out March 15, 1866.
After being discharged Lafferty returned to San Francisco to accept a commission as a 2nd Lieutenant in the Regular Army of the United States. He was mustered into the 8th U.S. Cavalry July 28, 1866, and was posted to Nevada. After seeing considerable action, he was promoted to 1st Lieutenant July 31, 1867. In one action he became separated from his command during an engagement with hostile Indians. Cut off and entirely alone, Lt. Lafferty killed two warriors and took two others prisoner. Lafferty was transferred to Fort Bowie, Arizona Territory, in September 1869 and placed in command of Company G, 8th U.S. Cavalry. Fort Bowie was commanded by Colonel Reuben F. Bernard. Lafferty's family remained in San Francisco, perhaps because his wife had recently given birth to their third child. Lafferty left Camp Bowie with Colonel Bernard on a scout on October 6. On October 20 the troops engaged several Apache warriors led by Cochise. The Apaches held a strong defensive position at "Rocky Mesa," just south of a pass in the Chiricahua Mountains. Lafferty was wounded by a bullet that tore away a portion of his lower jaw, taking out twelve lower and four upper teeth and destroying a portion of his tongue and lips. The wound left him with slurred speech and unable to chew his food. Colonel Bernard's superior, Major General Thomas C. Devin, interceded on Lafferty's behalf, urging approval of a transfer, writing that Lafferty was wounded by a ball "which passed clear through his face just below the cheekbone, fracturing and carrying away all his teeth except the three back teeth on each side. He can now only be fed with beef tea and farina. He prefers being ordered in [to San Francisco] to going on sick leave as he would thereby be entitled to transportation and facilities that could not be accorded to an officer on leave. I respectfully submit that his gallant conduct and helpless condition entitle his request to favorable consideration."
The transfer was approved and Lafferty returned to San Francisco to convalesce and spend some time with his family. He eventually returned to active duty. In 1873 he was posted to Fort Union, New Mexico, and served as the depot subsistence officer until being granted sick leave late in 1875. Evidently, while he was at Fort Union, Fanny irked some of the other officers and their wives with her erratic behavior. Lafferty was transferred to San Francisco where he was promoted to Captain on October 3, 1876. Following the recommendation of a medical review board, he retired from the Army on June 28, 1878, and settled into his house at 730 Grove Street. He was still there when the census taker stopped by in June 1880 to find him living with his wife Fanny, sons Frederick Sherman (1865) and John Lovett (1867), and daughters Grace (born 1869) and Harriet (born 1877). John was a member of the Society of California Volunteers, a Union veterans organization, and he served as its president in 1883 (Langley's 1883 S.F. Directory; 108:1).
John's beloved Fanny died on January 7, 1890, the same year the Senate officially recognized the Indian Wars and approved Colonel Bernard's recommendation to award Lafferty a brevet to captain, effective the date of the 1869 engagement. Fanny was buried in the National Cemetery at the Presidio of San Francisco. When his son Frederick's young daughter Enid Lytton Lafferty died on July 26, 1893, she was buried next to her grandmother. Two years later John married (2) Ella J. (maiden name unknown).
He was an active member of the Society of California Volunteers, which met quarterly in San Francisco's Occidental Hotel. Just a few months before his death he attended the society's annual banquet in April 1899, in the company of his old Fort Mason comrade-in-arms, Dr. George B. Tolman. He was also a member of the Military Order of the Loyal Legion of the United States, a Civil War veterans organization composed of former Union officers. John Lafferty died at his home on Grove Street on Sunday, October 15, 1899, and was buried on October 18 in grave OS-45-1 in the National Cemetery at the Presidio of San Francisco, California, next to his wife Fanny and granddaughter Enid.
---
Pursuit of the Murderer Mason.
South San Juan, April 12th, 6 pm. Lieutenant Lafferty and detachment returned this moment, bringing with them the captured horse of the murderer Mason. The detachment surprised Mason at seven o'clock this morning, at the head of the Great Panoche Valley. The murderer made the most desperate attempt to escape and finally succeeded, but not until his horse was shot and he himself badly wounded in the hips by a shot from the Lieutenant's pistol. The commanding officer, Captain Jimeno, will send another detachment immediately to keep up the hunt until Mason is either killed or captured. (Alta California [San Francisco], April 13, 1865; 1:7)
---
Children:
- Frederick Sherman (1865-1947)
- John Lovett (1867-1930)
- Grace (1869-)
- Harriet (1877-)
---
Biography by Steve
See Jerry Eagan's "The Case of Lieut. John Lafferty" at www.desertexposure.com.
Civil War: Company B and D, Native California Cavalry
Indian Wars: Company G, 8th U.S. Cavalry
John Lafferty was born in Utica, Oneida County, New York, August 23, 1835. He married (1) Fanny Ruth Little February 2, 1864. Fanny was born in Barton, Orleans County, Vermont, October 8, 1835. The couple was residing in Sacramento when John enlisted July 6, 1864. He was mustered in at the Presidio of San Francisco July 24 as a 1st Lieutenant in Company B, 1st Battalion, Native California Cavalry. He remained at the Presidio of San Francisco until his company departed in February 1865 for Camp Low, pausing at the Presidio of Monterey en route. Lafferty accompanied his regiment on the long march across the Mojave and Sonoran Deserts to Arizona Territory in June and July 1865. After resting for a few days in Tucson, his company proceeded to Tubac. On August 21 he left Tubac for his new station at Fort Mason. When Captain Thomas Young died of disease on December 2, 1865, Lafferty assumed command of Company D, Native California Cavalry. Lafferty survived the deadly epidemic that struck the post during the fall and winter of 1865-66. He left Fort Mason in late January 1866 and was in Tucson on January 31 en route to Drum Barracks, where he was mustered out March 15, 1866.
After being discharged Lafferty returned to San Francisco to accept a commission as a 2nd Lieutenant in the Regular Army of the United States. He was mustered into the 8th U.S. Cavalry July 28, 1866, and was posted to Nevada. After seeing considerable action, he was promoted to 1st Lieutenant July 31, 1867. In one action he became separated from his command during an engagement with hostile Indians. Cut off and entirely alone, Lt. Lafferty killed two warriors and took two others prisoner. Lafferty was transferred to Fort Bowie, Arizona Territory, in September 1869 and placed in command of Company G, 8th U.S. Cavalry. Fort Bowie was commanded by Colonel Reuben F. Bernard. Lafferty's family remained in San Francisco, perhaps because his wife had recently given birth to their third child. Lafferty left Camp Bowie with Colonel Bernard on a scout on October 6. On October 20 the troops engaged several Apache warriors led by Cochise. The Apaches held a strong defensive position at "Rocky Mesa," just south of a pass in the Chiricahua Mountains. Lafferty was wounded by a bullet that tore away a portion of his lower jaw, taking out twelve lower and four upper teeth and destroying a portion of his tongue and lips. The wound left him with slurred speech and unable to chew his food. Colonel Bernard's superior, Major General Thomas C. Devin, interceded on Lafferty's behalf, urging approval of a transfer, writing that Lafferty was wounded by a ball "which passed clear through his face just below the cheekbone, fracturing and carrying away all his teeth except the three back teeth on each side. He can now only be fed with beef tea and farina. He prefers being ordered in [to San Francisco] to going on sick leave as he would thereby be entitled to transportation and facilities that could not be accorded to an officer on leave. I respectfully submit that his gallant conduct and helpless condition entitle his request to favorable consideration."
The transfer was approved and Lafferty returned to San Francisco to convalesce and spend some time with his family. He eventually returned to active duty. In 1873 he was posted to Fort Union, New Mexico, and served as the depot subsistence officer until being granted sick leave late in 1875. Evidently, while he was at Fort Union, Fanny irked some of the other officers and their wives with her erratic behavior. Lafferty was transferred to San Francisco where he was promoted to Captain on October 3, 1876. Following the recommendation of a medical review board, he retired from the Army on June 28, 1878, and settled into his house at 730 Grove Street. He was still there when the census taker stopped by in June 1880 to find him living with his wife Fanny, sons Frederick Sherman (1865) and John Lovett (1867), and daughters Grace (born 1869) and Harriet (born 1877). John was a member of the Society of California Volunteers, a Union veterans organization, and he served as its president in 1883 (Langley's 1883 S.F. Directory; 108:1).
John's beloved Fanny died on January 7, 1890, the same year the Senate officially recognized the Indian Wars and approved Colonel Bernard's recommendation to award Lafferty a brevet to captain, effective the date of the 1869 engagement. Fanny was buried in the National Cemetery at the Presidio of San Francisco. When his son Frederick's young daughter Enid Lytton Lafferty died on July 26, 1893, she was buried next to her grandmother. Two years later John married (2) Ella J. (maiden name unknown).
He was an active member of the Society of California Volunteers, which met quarterly in San Francisco's Occidental Hotel. Just a few months before his death he attended the society's annual banquet in April 1899, in the company of his old Fort Mason comrade-in-arms, Dr. George B. Tolman. He was also a member of the Military Order of the Loyal Legion of the United States, a Civil War veterans organization composed of former Union officers. John Lafferty died at his home on Grove Street on Sunday, October 15, 1899, and was buried on October 18 in grave OS-45-1 in the National Cemetery at the Presidio of San Francisco, California, next to his wife Fanny and granddaughter Enid.
---
Pursuit of the Murderer Mason.
South San Juan, April 12th, 6 pm. Lieutenant Lafferty and detachment returned this moment, bringing with them the captured horse of the murderer Mason. The detachment surprised Mason at seven o'clock this morning, at the head of the Great Panoche Valley. The murderer made the most desperate attempt to escape and finally succeeded, but not until his horse was shot and he himself badly wounded in the hips by a shot from the Lieutenant's pistol. The commanding officer, Captain Jimeno, will send another detachment immediately to keep up the hunt until Mason is either killed or captured. (Alta California [San Francisco], April 13, 1865; 1:7)
---
Children:
- Frederick Sherman (1865-1947)
- John Lovett (1867-1930)
- Grace (1869-)
- Harriet (1877-)
---
Biography by Steve
See Jerry Eagan's "The Case of Lieut. John Lafferty" at www.desertexposure.com.
Indian Wars: Company G, 8th U.S. Cavalry
John Lafferty was born in Utica, Oneida County, New York, August 23, 1835. He married (1) Fanny Ruth Little February 2, 1864. Fanny was born in Barton, Orleans County, Vermont, October 8, 1835. The couple was residing in Sacramento when John enlisted July 6, 1864. He was mustered in at the Presidio of San Francisco July 24 as a 1st Lieutenant in Company B, 1st Battalion, Native California Cavalry. He remained at the Presidio of San Francisco until his company departed in February 1865 for Camp Low, pausing at the Presidio of Monterey en route. Lafferty accompanied his regiment on the long march across the Mojave and Sonoran Deserts to Arizona Territory in June and July 1865. After resting for a few days in Tucson, his company proceeded to Tubac. On August 21 he left Tubac for his new station at Fort Mason. When Captain Thomas Young died of disease on December 2, 1865, Lafferty assumed command of Company D, Native California Cavalry. Lafferty survived the deadly epidemic that struck the post during the fall and winter of 1865-66. He left Fort Mason in late January 1866 and was in Tucson on January 31 en route to Drum Barracks, where he was mustered out March 15, 1866.
After being discharged Lafferty returned to San Francisco to accept a commission as a 2nd Lieutenant in the Regular Army of the United States. He was mustered into the 8th U.S. Cavalry July 28, 1866, and was posted to Nevada. After seeing considerable action, he was promoted to 1st Lieutenant July 31, 1867. In one action he became separated from his command during an engagement with hostile Indians. Cut off and entirely alone, Lt. Lafferty killed two warriors and took two others prisoner. Lafferty was transferred to Fort Bowie, Arizona Territory, in September 1869 and placed in command of Company G, 8th U.S. Cavalry. Fort Bowie was commanded by Colonel Reuben F. Bernard. Lafferty's family remained in San Francisco, perhaps because his wife had recently given birth to their third child. Lafferty left Camp Bowie with Colonel Bernard on a scout on October 6. On October 20 the troops engaged several Apache warriors led by Cochise. The Apaches held a strong defensive position at "Rocky Mesa," just south of a pass in the Chiricahua Mountains. Lafferty was wounded by a bullet that tore away a portion of his lower jaw, taking out twelve lower and four upper teeth and destroying a portion of his tongue and lips. The wound left him with slurred speech and unable to chew his food. Colonel Bernard's superior, Major General Thomas C. Devin, interceded on Lafferty's behalf, urging approval of a transfer, writing that Lafferty was wounded by a ball "which passed clear through his face just below the cheekbone, fracturing and carrying away all his teeth except the three back teeth on each side. He can now only be fed with beef tea and farina. He prefers being ordered in [to San Francisco] to going on sick leave as he would thereby be entitled to transportation and facilities that could not be accorded to an officer on leave. I respectfully submit that his gallant conduct and helpless condition entitle his request to favorable consideration."
The transfer was approved and Lafferty returned to San Francisco to convalesce and spend some time with his family. He eventually returned to active duty. In 1873 he was posted to Fort Union, New Mexico, and served as the depot subsistence officer until being granted sick leave late in 1875. Evidently, while he was at Fort Union, Fanny irked some of the other officers and their wives with her erratic behavior. Lafferty was transferred to San Francisco where he was promoted to Captain on October 3, 1876. Following the recommendation of a medical review board, he retired from the Army on June 28, 1878, and settled into his house at 730 Grove Street. He was still there when the census taker stopped by in June 1880 to find him living with his wife Fanny, sons Frederick Sherman (1865) and John Lovett (1867), and daughters Grace (born 1869) and Harriet (born 1877). John was a member of the Society of California Volunteers, a Union veterans organization, and he served as its president in 1883 (Langley's 1883 S.F. Directory; 108:1).
John's beloved Fanny died on January 7, 1890, the same year the Senate officially recognized the Indian Wars and approved Colonel Bernard's recommendation to award Lafferty a brevet to captain, effective the date of the 1869 engagement. Fanny was buried in the National Cemetery at the Presidio of San Francisco. When his son Frederick's young daughter Enid Lytton Lafferty died on July 26, 1893, she was buried next to her grandmother. Two years later John married (2) Ella J. (maiden name unknown).
He was an active member of the Society of California Volunteers, which met quarterly in San Francisco's Occidental Hotel. Just a few months before his death he attended the society's annual banquet in April 1899, in the company of his old Fort Mason comrade-in-arms, Dr. George B. Tolman. He was also a member of the Military Order of the Loyal Legion of the United States, a Civil War veterans organization composed of former Union officers. John Lafferty died at his home on Grove Street on Sunday, October 15, 1899, and was buried on October 18 in grave OS-45-1 in the National Cemetery at the Presidio of San Francisco, California, next to his wife Fanny and granddaughter Enid.
---
Pursuit of the Murderer Mason.
South San Juan, April 12th, 6 pm. Lieutenant Lafferty and detachment returned this moment, bringing with them the captured horse of the murderer Mason. The detachment surprised Mason at seven o'clock this morning, at the head of the Great Panoche Valley. The murderer made the most desperate attempt to escape and finally succeeded, but not until his horse was shot and he himself badly wounded in the hips by a shot from the Lieutenant's pistol. The commanding officer, Captain Jimeno, will send another detachment immediately to keep up the hunt until Mason is either killed or captured. (Alta California [San Francisco], April 13, 1865; 1:7)
---
Children:
- Frederick Sherman (1865-1947)
- John Lovett (1867-1930)
- Grace (1869-)
- Harriet (1877-)
---
Biography by Steve
See Jerry Eagan's "The Case of Lieut. John Lafferty" at www.desertexposure.com.
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