Richard Henry Pratt - Military Career

Military Career

Pratt's father moved the family to Logansport, Indiana then was murdered during the California Gold Rush. Young Pratt was left to support his mother & two younger brothers. He enlisted in the 9th Indiana Volunteer Infantry and later served with the 2nd Indiana Volunteer Cavalry and the 11th Indiana Volunteer Cavalry and was mustered out of the Volunteer Service in May 1865. He served the entire Civil War as a volunteer, from Private to brevet Major, fighting in the battles of Nashville and Chicamauga.

After being mustered out of the army, he returned to Logansport, Indiana, and married Anna Mason and ran a hardware store, but after two years in the hardware business, he reentered the Army in March 1867 as Second Lieutenant in the 10th United States Cavalry, taking charge of the African-American regiment composed of freedman and recently freed slaves famously known as the "Buffalo Soldiers" in Fort Sill in the Oklahoma Territory. Pratt's long and active military career included 8 years in the western Great Plains, which involved participation in some of the signal conflicts with Native Americans of the southern plains, including the Washita campaign of 1868-1869 and the Red River War of 1874-1875. He was promoted Captain in February 1883; Major in July 1898; Lieutenant Colonel in February 1901; and Colonel in January 1903. He retired from the Army in February 1903 and in April 1904 he was advanced to Brigadier General on the Retired List.