Sergeant Major Pierre A. Banker (Army Discharge from 7th Cavalry, 1871)

Army Discharge for Sergeant Major Pierre A. Banker

If you collect items associated with the Seventh Cavalry, I can help you there also.  Shown is the Army Discharge for Pierre A. Banker, who served in 1871 as the senior enlisted man in the regiment.

• Born in Poughkeepsie, Dutchess County, New York on December 5, 1845, the son of John Banker and Priscilla Alden.
• Educated at the Mount Pleasant Military Academy in Ossining, New York at the same time as James “Jimmy” Calhoun.
• Served as a private in Company A of the 20^th Regiment, New York State Militia, from the beginning of the Civil War; the regiment was reorganized into the 80^th New York Volunteers; it fought at Second Bull Run, Antietam, Fredericksburg, Gettysburg and the Siege of Petersburg; Banker was originally discharged on February 3, 1865.
• Enlisted in the 7^th Cavalry Regiment on November 19, 1866.
• Stood 5′ 4½” tall, with a fair complexion, gray eyes and dark hair.
• Served in Company F.
• Fought at the Battle of the Washita and succeeded Sergeant Major Walter Kennedy, who was killed during the battle, as the regimental sergeant major.
• Functioned as a clerk at 7^th Cavalry Headquarters at Fort Hays and Fort Leavenworth, where he transcribed many of the original reports submitted by Custer, including the official final report on the Battle of the Washita.
• Wrote a letter to his father, John Banker of New York, which read in part: “I wish Congress would decide upon this Mormon business. I should very much like to go to Salt Lake and give old Brigham a good sound whipping.”
• Discharged from the 7^th Cavalry on June 9, 1871 at Taylor Barracks, Louisville, Kentucky.  Discharge was signed by Major W. P. Carlin, Commanding Officer of the 16^th Infantry Regiment and Post Commander; and by First Lieutenant William W. Cooke, Adjutant of the 7^th Cavalry Regiment.
• Married Miss Julia Carroll, daughter of William Carroll a prominent merchant and businessman, in Rhinebeck, New York, on November 23, 1873.
• Graduated from the New York Homeopathic College in 1879 and began practicing medicine.
• Died at Elizabeth, New Jersey on December 2, 1909 of a heart attack.
• Survived by his wife and children, George T. Banker (organist), Pierre Augustine Banker, Jr., Harriett Preston and Julia Carroll Banker.