Fitz Lee

NPS Image / T. Engberg

Quick Facts

Significance:

Buffalo Soldier and Medal of Honor Recipient

Place of Birth:

Dinwiddie County, Virginia

Date of Birth:

June, 1866

Place of Death:

Leavenworth, Kansas

Date of Death:

September 14, 1899

Place of Burial:

Leavenworth, Kansas

Cemetery Name:

Fort Leavenworth National Cemetery

Fitz Lee was born in June 1866 in Dinwiddie County, Virginia. In December 1889, Lee enlisted in M Troop, Tenth Cavalry, in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. In 1898, as the Army was mobilizing for war with Spain, Lee was serving as a private. As the Tenth Cavalry was boarding its transport ships bound for Cuba, Lee, along with 50 other troopers, was chosen by Lieutenant Carter P. Johnson for a special assignment. Johnson and his men were headed behind enemy lines to reenforce and resupply Cuban fighters seeking liberation from Spanish rule.

On June 30, 1898, Cuban freedom fighters and some American volunteers aboard the U.S.S. Florida attempted an amphibious landing at Tayabacoa, Cuba. The landing party immediately engaged with Spanish soldiers from a nearby blockhouse. The Cubans and Americans retreated, leaving behind a group of wounded comrades. A call for volunteers to rescue the wounded soldiers on the U.S.S. Florida began to make the rounds. After several unsuccessful rescue attempts Private Lee, Corporal George H. Wanton, Private Dennis Bell, Sergeant William H. Thompkins, and Lieutenant George P. Ahern stepped forward and offered to rescue their wounded comrades. 

The five soldiers went ashore and surprised the Spanish holding their comrades. The rescuers were able to free all the wounded soldiers, and everyone returned safely to the U.S.S. Florida. Lee, Wanton, Bell, and Thompkins were awarded the Medal of Honor in the summer of 1899 for their actions at Tayabacoa. Lee received his Medal of Honor while he was in the hospital at Fort Bliss, Texas. His health declined quickly after the rescue mission, with severely limited vision, swollen limbs, and abdominal pain that left him bedridden for three months. Lee was medically discharged from the Army on July 5, 1899, a few days after receiving the Medal of Honor.

Lee moved to Leavenworth, Kansas, after discharge to live with fellow retired Buffalo Soldiers. His comrades took care of him while he awaited his disability benefits from the War Department. In constant pain and totally blind, Fitz Lee died at the home of a friend in Kansas on September 14, 1899. He was buried with full military honors at Fort Leavenworth National Cemetery, Section G, Site 3183.