Background
Clarke was born at Alexandria, Louisiana on October 9, 1862. He was the grandson of United States. federal judge Henry Boyce and Irene Archinard, and the son of Louise Frances Boyce and Doctor (Professor) Powhatan Clarke.
Clarke was born at Alexandria, Louisiana on October 9, 1862. He was the grandson of United States. federal judge Henry Boyce and Irene Archinard, and the son of Louise Frances Boyce and Doctor (Professor) Powhatan Clarke.
He partly studied in France. He graduated from the United States Military Academy in 1884.
Clarke was a Second Lieutenant in the 10th Cavalry Regiment of the Buffalo Soldiers at Fort Davis, Texas. On May 3, 1886, he rescued one of his wounded soldiers, Corporal Edward Scott, who was under heavy fire from Apaches at Pinito Mountains, Sonora. He was the commander of Apache Scouts until 1891.
In 1891, he became First Lieutenant and he was transferred to the 9th Cavalry Regiment.
He was back with the 10th Cavalry by early 1892. In 1891-1892 he was an observer, stationed at Düsseldorf, with a Westphalian hussar regiment.
The discipline of the German Army greatly impressed him. From 1892 until his death in 1893, he lived in Fort Custer, Montana.
He drowned in the Little Bighorn River on July 21, 1893, and was buried at Calvary Cemetery in Saint Louis, Missouri.