A Soldier's Story: Corporal Isaiah Mays


Corporal Isaiah Mays was born on February 16, 1858, as an enslaved person, in Carter's Bridge, Virginia.

He enlisted in the US Army in September 1881 and was assigned to the 24th Infantry and sent to Arizona Territory.

Corporal Mays earned a Congressional Medal of Honor during the Wham Paymaster Robbery.  On May 11, 1889, Corporal Mays was assigned to the security detail, moving payroll from Fort Grant to Fort Thomas.   They were attacked by a group of eleven men.  Corporal Isaiah Mays would, under fire, crawl over the desert territory to get reinforcements.

After his contract ended in September of 1893 and he retired from the military, he remained in the West, working as a general laborer in Arizona Territory.  He fell ill in 1922 and entered the Arizona State Hospital, dying there in 1925.

Corporal Isaiah Mays was initially interred in the hospital's cemetery, but on May 29, 2009, the Old Guard Riders re-interred him in Arlington Cemetery with full military honors.




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a.d. elliott is a wanderer, writer, and photographer currently living in Salem, Virginia. 

In addition to the travel writings at www.takethebackroads.com, you can also read her book reviews at www.riteoffancy.com and US military biographies at www.everydaypatriot.com

Her online photography gallery can be found at shop.takethebackroads.com

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Location: Carters Bridge Pl, Laurel, VA 23228, USA

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