Nicholas M. Nolan
| Nicholas M. Nolan | |
|---|---|
Major Nicholas M. Nolan, 3rd Cavalry, formerly of the 10th Cavalry
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| Born |
March 10, 1835 Ireland |
| Died | October 24, 1883 (aged 48) Holbrook, Navajo County, Arizona |
| Place of burial | San Antonio National Cemetery, San Antonio, Bexar County, Texas |
| Allegiance |
 United States of America
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| Service/branch |
 Department of War–Army
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| Years of service | 1852–1883 |
| Rank |
 Major
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| Battles/wars |
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Nicholas Merritt Nolan (March 10, 1835 – October 24, 1883) was a United States Army major. He began his military career on December 9, 1852 as an artilleryman, and subsequently served in the 2nd Dragoons. He started as a private and rose through the ranks becoming a First Sergeant. He was commissioned an officer in late 1862 in the Regular Army while serving with the 6th U.S. Cavalry Regiment during the American Civil War. He participated in sixteen campaigns with the 6th and most of its battles. He was slightly wounded at the Battle of Fairfield and seriously wounded at the Battle of Dinwiddie Court House. He was brevetted twice and noted at least twice for gallantry during combat. He was slightly wounded when captured at the end of March 1865 and was later paroled. After the Civil War he served with the 10th U.S. Cavalry known as the Buffalo Soldiers for fourteen years. Nolan is also noted for his pluses and minuses during the Buffalo Soldier tragedy of 1877 that made headlines in the Eastern United States of America. He was the commanding officer of Henry O. Flipper in 1878, the first Negro officer who graduated from United States Military Academy at West Point. He commanded several frontier forts before his untimely death in 1883.
Nolan emigrated from Ireland in 1852 and not much is known about his family. He described himself a "bull headed" Irish lad of seventeen and a half when he enlisted at Fort Hamilton in New York. He was assigned to Battery M, 4th Artillery on December 9, 1852 as a private. By August 1858 he was a corporal and on September 1, 1858 he was transferred to the 2nd Dragoons, Company K. There he found his place becoming a Sergeant and later the First Sergeant of Company (later Troop) K.
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