Frank Dwight Baldwin
Major General, Union Army / U.S. Army

Frank Dwight Baldwin is one of only 19 servicemen to receive two awards of the Medal of Honor, the U.S. military's highest award for valor. Baldwin received the first award for his actions during the Atlanta Campaign of the American Civil War, where he led his company to battle at Peachtree Creek and captured two commissioned officers. He received his second Medal of Honor for conspicuous bravery in 1874 during the Indian Wars.

Frank Dwight Baldwin was born on 26 June 1842 in Manchester, MI, and grew up in Constantine, MI. He served through the American Civil War in the 19th Michigan Infantry, fighting in all his regiment's battles from 1862 to 1865. Upon the postbellum reorganization of the Regular Army, he was commissioned into the 19th United States Regular Infantry as a Second Lieutenant. He eventually was assigned to the 5th U.S. Infantry, with whom he fought in the various frontier conflicts with the Indians. His actions in an attack on an Indian village on the Red River in Montana on 18 December 1876, earned him a brevet of Captain, U.S. Regular Army (awarded on 27 February 1890).

He served with distinction under General Nelson A. Miles as Chief of Scouts during campaigns against Sitting Bull and Crazy Horse. Baldwin also served in the Philippines during the Spanish-American War. He was promoted to Brigadier General, U.S. Regular Army on 9 June 1902. In 1906, he was advanced to Major General, after which he retired from active duty.

Baldwin ended his career as Adjutant General of the State of Colorado. Baldwin holds the distinction for being the first recipient of the Medal of Honor in different conflicts; first for actions in the Civil War on 12 July 1864 and the second for the Indian Wars, on 8 November 1874.

Awards

First Medal of Honor

Rank and organization: Captain, Company D, 19th Michigan Infantry. Place and date: At Peachtree Creek, Georgia, July 12, 1864. Citation: "Led his company in a countercharge at Peach Tree Creek, Ga., 12 July 1864, under a galling fire ahead of his own men, and singly entered the enemy's line, capturing and bringing back 2 commissioned officers, fully armed, besides a guidon of a Georgia regiment." Date of issue: 3 December 1891.

Second Medal of Honor

Rank and organization: First Lieutenant, 5th U.S. Infantry. Place and date: At McClellan's Creek, Texas, November 8, 1874. Citation: "Rescued, with 2 companies, 2 white girls by a voluntary attack upon Indians whose superior numbers and strong position would have warranted delay for reinforcements, but which delay would have permitted the Indians to escape and kill their captives." Date of issue: 3 December 1891.

Honors

Inducted into the Hillsdale County, MI, Veteran's Hall of Fame in 2004 for his distinguished service in the American Civil War. Hall of Fame inductee 016, Civil War inductee 004.

Death and Burial

Major General Frank Dwight Baldwin died on 22 April 1923, in Denver, CO. He is buried at Arlington National Cemetery, Arlington, VA.

His wife, Alice Blackwood Baldwin, honored the general's war contributions by compiling and editing the memoirs of her late husband in 1929.