Edward Price (born 1840, date of death unknown) was a

Union Navy ), (official) , colors = Blue and gold , colors_label = Colors , march = , mascot = , equipment = , equipment_label ...

sailor in the

American Civil War The American Civil War (April 12, 1861 – May 26, 1865; also known by other names) was a civil war in the United States. It was fought between the Union ("the North") and the Confederacy ("the South"), the latter formed by states th ...

and a recipient of the U.S. military's highest decoration, the

Medal of Honor The Medal of Honor (MOH) is the United States Armed Forces' highest military decoration and is awarded to recognize American soldiers, sailors, marines, airmen, guardians and coast guardsmen who have distinguished themselves by acts of valor. ...

, for his actions at the

Battle of Mobile Bay The Battle of Mobile Bay of August 5, 1864, was a naval and land engagement of the American Civil War in which a Union fleet commanded by Rear Admiral David G. Farragut, assisted by a contingent of soldiers, attacked a smaller Confederate fle ...

. Born in 1840 in

New York New York most commonly refers to: * New York City, the most populous city in the United States, located in the state of New York * New York (state), a state in the northeastern United States New York may also refer to: Film and television * '' ...

, Price was still living in that state when he joined the Navy. He served during the Civil War as a

coxswain The coxswain ( , or ) is the person in charge of a boat, particularly its navigation and steering. The etymology of the word gives a literal meaning of "boat servant" since it comes from ''cock'', referring to the cockboat, a type of ship's boat ...

on the . Throughout the

on August 5, 1864, he helped work one of ''Brooklyns artillery pieces, at one point fixing the disabled gun by clearing a broken

sponge Sponges, the members of the phylum Porifera (; meaning 'pore bearer'), are a basal animal clade as a sister of the diploblasts. They are multicellular organisms that have bodies full of pores and channels allowing water to circulate through t ...

from its barrel. For this action, he was awarded the Medal of Honor four months later, on December 31, 1864. Price's official Medal of Honor citation reads:

On board the U.S.S. ''Brooklyn'' during successful attacks against
Fort Morgan Fort Morgan can apply to any one of several places in the United States: *Fort Morgan (Alabama), a fort at the mouth of Mobile Bay *Fort Morgan, Alabama, a nearby community *Fort Morgan (Colorado), a frontier military post located in present-day Fo ...
, rebel gunboats and the ram ''
Tennessee Tennessee ( , ), officially the State of Tennessee, is a landlocked state in the Southeastern region of the United States. Tennessee is the 36th-largest by area and the 15th-most populous of the 50 states. It is bordered by Kentucky to th ...
'' in Mobile Bay, 5 August 1864. When the sponge broke, leaving the head in the gun, and completely disabling the weapon, Price immediately cleared it by pouring powder into the vent and blowing the sponge head out, thereafter continuing to man the weapon until the close of the furious action which resulted in the capture of the prize rebel ram ''Tennessee'' and in the infliction of damage and destruction on Fort Morgan.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Price, Edward 1840 births Year of death unknown Military personnel from New York (state) People of New York (state) in the American Civil War Union Navy sailors United States Navy Medal of Honor recipients American Civil War recipients of the Medal of Honor