Samuel A. Cherry

Samuel Austin Cherry (April 14, 1850–May 11, 1881) was an lieutenant in the United States Army. He spent most of his military career at posts in Wyoming and Nebraska. In 1879, he participated in the Battle of Milk Creek, where he commanded a group of 20 men in a rear-guard action that allowed their column to make an orderly withdrawal from a superior Ute force and establish a defensive position; Cherry was able to bring all 20 of his men back to the column.

In 1881, while based at Fort Niobrara, Nebraska, Cherry was killed by a drunken soldier. In 1883, his name was given to the newly organized Cherry County, Nebraska, which included Ft. Niobrara.

Cherry was born April 14, 1850 in Lagrange, Indiana, and spent his boyhood there. In 1870, he was admitted to the United States Military Academy in West Point, New York. There, he pushed a classmate away from a falling cannon, which struck him instead; the injury left him with a limp for the rest of his life. He graduated from the Academy in June 1875, ranked 35th in a class of 43.

Upon his graduation, Cherry was promoted to the rank of second lieutenant in the 23rd Infantry. In September of that year, he was assigned to frontier duty at Fort D. A. Russell in Wyoming. In 1876, he was transferred to the 5th Cavalry, in which he continued to serve at various posts in Wyoming.

On September 21, 1879, Cherry was attached to a column of about 175 soldiers consisting of one infantry and three cavalry companies under the command of Major Thomas T. Thornbergh. Thornbergh had been ordered to march from Ft. Steele (near present-day Rawlins, Wyoming) to the White River Indian Reservation in Colorado in response to a request for help from Nathan C. Meeker, the White River Indian Agent, who had become engaged in altercations with the Ute Tribe.

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