William Smith (Medal of Honor)

William Smith
Born 1838
Ireland
Died January, 12, 1902 (aged 6364)
Merrimack County, New Hampshire
Allegiance United States of America
Union
Service/branch Union Navy
Rank Quartermaster
Unit USS Kearsarge (1861)
Battles/wars

American Civil War

Awards Medal of Honor

William Smith (1838 January 12, 1902) was born in Ireland and was a Union Navy sailor during the American Civil War who received America's highest military decoration the Medal of Honor for his actions at Cherbourg, France. He was buried at Blossom Hill Cemetery in Concord, Merrimack County, New Hampshire.[1]

Medal of Honor citation

Rank and Organization:

Quartermaster, U.S. Navy. Born: 1838, Ireland. Accredited to: New Hampshire. G.O. No.: 45, 31 December 1864.

Citation:

Served as second quartermaster on board the U.S.S. Kearsarge when she destroyed the Alabama off Cherbourg, France, 19 June 1864. Acting as captain of the 11-inch pivot gun of the second division, Smith carried out his duties courageously and deserved special notice for the deliberate and cool manner in which he acted throughout the bitter engagement. It is stated by rebel officers that this gun was more destructive and did more damage than any other gun of Kearsarge.[2][3]

See also

Notes

  1. "William Smith". Claim to Fame: Medal of Honor recipients. Find a Grave. Retrieved November 8, 20078. Check date values in: |access-date= (help)
  2. ""Civil War Medal of Honor citations" (S-Z): Smith, William". AmericanCivilWar.com. Retrieved November 9, 2007.
  3. "Medal of Honor website (M-Z): Smith, William". United States Army Center of Military History. Retrieved November 9, 2007.


This article is issued from Wikipedia - version of the 3/7/2016. The text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution/Share Alike but additional terms may apply for the media files.