Medal of Honor Fight, 1875
Comstock, Val Verde County, Texas
Marker Inscription
In the 1870s, the U.S. Army relied on Black Seminole (Seminole-Negro) Indian scouts in campaigns against raiding Native Americans along the Texas-Mexico border. In April 1875, Lt. John L. Bullis and three scouts -- Sergeant John Ward, Private Pompey Factor and Trumpeter Isaac Payne -- left Fort Clark to scout for raiders in this area. After four days, they found a fresh trail and on April 25, within a half-mile of this site, they engaged a party of about 30 Comanche Indians with dozens of horses. Outgunned and outnumbered, the scouts withdrew, but Bullis' horse bolted, stranding him. Factor and Payne provided cover fire, and Ward rescued his Lieutenant. The three Seminole scouts later received Medals of Honor for their gallantry. (2006)
Erected by Texas Historical Commission
The Story
In the spring of 1875, the Texas-Mexico borderlands were still contested ground, and the U.S. Army leaned on the skilled Black Seminole (Seminole-Negro) Indian scouts to track raiders across the brush country. On April 25, Lt. John L. Bullis and three of those scouts caught up with a far larger Comanche party near this spot and were forced to withdraw under fire. When Bullis's horse bolted and left him stranded, the scouts turned back into danger to save him — a rescue that earned all three the Medal of Honor.
Why it matters
The action honors the Black Seminole scouts, among the few African American and Native-descended soldiers of the Indian Wars to receive the nation's highest decoration for valor.
Own a business near here? Add it to the map.
Related people
- · Lt. John L. Bullis
- · Sergeant John Ward
- · Private Pompey Factor
- · Trumpeter Isaac Payne
Related events
- · Texas-Mexico border Indian Wars
Themes & tags
Nearby & related markers
John Horse
Brackettville, TX
Born in Spanish Florida in 1812 to a Black mother and a Seminole father, John Horse became a leading figure among the Black Seminoles during the Second Seminole War, fighting alongside Chief Coacoochee before serving the U.S. Army as scout, interpreter, and mediator. Repeatedly pursued after his people's freedom was stripped away, he led followers out of Indian Territory in 1849 toward sanctuary in Mexico, resting near Las Moras Spring in 1850 and later settling at Nacimiento in exchange for guarding the border against Apache and Comanche raids. He survived an ambush near this site in 1876 and died in Mexico City in 1882.
Carver School Grounds
Brackettville, TX
After the Army disbanded Fort Clark's Seminole-Negro Indian Scout Detachment in 1914, the Seminole families relocated to Brackettville, where in 1919 the school district bought land for a "colored school." A two-story 1870 limestone homestead became the George Washington Carver School, once the only accredited Black school between San Antonio and El Paso. The grounds later passed to the Seminole community and remain a cultural center for Juneteenth and Seminole Day gatherings.
Palisado Kitchen/Mess Room
Brackettville, TX
African American "Buffalo Soldiers" of the 25th Infantry built this vertical-post structure in 1869-70 as a mess room behind their stone barracks, using upright timbers because no trees stood tall enough for traditional log walls. Over the years it also served as storeroom, tailor shop, and amusement hall. A persistent legend wrongly tied it to Robert E. Lee, who never visited Fort Clark during his Texas service.
Fort Pena Colorada (Red Rock)
Marathon, TX
Established in 1880 in the rugged Big Bend country, Fort Peña Colorada guarded the water and passes near Marathon against raids across the Mexican border. Apaches struck the post in 1881 during the last years of the Indian Wars in far West Texas. With the frontier considered pacified, the fort was abandoned in 1893.