Marcus W Robertson
Marcus was born on the 12th of February 1870, in Flintville, Wisconsin, and he was 28 years old when he enlisted in the US Army in Hood River, Oregon. He deployed to the Philippines one year later with the 2nd Oregon Volunteer Infantry Regiment and it was his actions as a Private with Young’s Scouts that would later earn him the Medal of Honor. The citation reads:
With 21 other scouts charged across a burning bridge, under heavy fire, and completely routed 600 of the enemy who were entrenched in a strongly fortified position.
For those that may have missed previous episodes, Young’s Scouts was a select group of soldiers organized by a civilian, William Henry Young, from Vermont. During the Philippine-American War, they acted similar to today’s US Army Cavalry Scouts, with being forward of a traditional unit as a guard and tasked with search and destroy missions. Originally, Young’s Scouts had 25 members but as members were wounded or killed, new members were selected to replace them. Fourteen members of Young’s Scouts receive the Medal of Honor and Marcus became one of those fourteen on the 28th of April 1906.
One document I found states that he was mustered out of the Army on the 7th of August 1899, which was only three months after his actions. Other unverified sources state that he remained in the Army, reaching the rank of Sergeant, and deployed to France during World War 1. I could not find record of when he exited the Army or a family. Marcus William Robertson died on the 24th of May 1948, at the age of 78 and he is buried in the Pine Grove Cemetery in Hood River, Oregon: Section 1, Lot 99.
