a fallen soldier whose horse had been killed while crossing a marsh. Both Parnell and McCarthy received the Medal of Honor for their efforts. He also fought at the Battle of the Clearwater on 11–12 July 1877, and, in the Bannock campaign, at Birch Creek on 8 July and the John Day River crossing on 20 July 1878. In February 1879, Parnell was put in command of 10 men, with an interpreter and guide, and given a special orders to go to Okanagau Pass. It was extremely difficult to travel to, especially given the harsh winter conditions, and the party had to pass through British Columbia. At the conclusion of this assignment, he was promoted to the rank of captain on 7 April 1879. He spent the next several years at various frontier outposts in the Pacific Northwest, including duty at the Western Shoshone Indian Reservation in August 1881, and eventually retired from active service on 11 February 1887, due to injuries suffered during his service. He became a major and placed on the retirement list in 1904, and spent the last ten years of his life as a military instructor at Saint Matthews Episcopal Day School in San Mateo, California. He was a companion of the California Commandery of the Military Order of the Loyal Legion of the United States. He died in San Francisco, California on 20 August 1910, after falling from a street car and interred at the San Francisco National Cemetery. Medal of Honor citation Rank and organization: First Lieutenant, 1st U.S. Cavalry. Place and date: At White Bird Canyon, Idaho, 17 June 1877. Entered service at: New York. Birth: Ireland. Date of issue: 16 September 1897. Citation: With a few men, in the face of a heavy fire from pursuing Indians and at imminent peril, returned and rescued a soldier whose horse had been killed and who had been left behind in the retreat. See also List of Medal of Honor recipients for the Indian Wars References Further reading Brown, Mark H. The Flight of the Nez Perce. New York: Putnam, 1967. Hannings, Bud. A Portrait of the Stars and Stripes. Glenside, Pennsylvania: Seniram Publishing, 1988. (pg. 275) Howard, Helen Addison. Saga of Chief Joseph. Lincoln: University of Nebraska Press, 1978. , Manning, Robert, ed. Above and Beyond: A History of the Medal of Honor from the Civil War to Vietnam. Boston: Boston Publishing Company,