James Brown (c. 1826 – ) was an officer in the
United States Navy
The United States Navy (USN) is the maritime service branch of the United States Armed Forces and one of the eight uniformed services of the United States. It is the largest and most powerful navy in the world, with the estimated tonnage ...
who served as quartermaster aboard the during 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 ...
. He received his nation's highest award for bravery during combat, the U.S.
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 aboard ship during the
Union Navy's May 4, 1863 attack on
Fort DeRussy in an attempt to disrupt the hold by Confederates over the
Red River region of Louisiana. That award was conferred on April 16, 1864.
Formative years
Brown was born in
Rochester, New York
Rochester () is a City (New York), city in the U.S. state of New York (state), New York, the county seat, seat of Monroe County, New York, Monroe County, and the fourth-most populous in the state after New York City, Buffalo, New York, Buffalo, ...
, in 1826.
Civil War
Brown enlisted in the U.S. Navy during 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 ...
. In 1863, he was serving as quartermaster aboard the 378-ton, screw-propelled wooden
gunboat during the U.S. Navy's attack on
Fort DeRussy, Louisiana on May 4. Despite sustaining heavy enemy fire that day, which included the projection of a ball from a 32-pound cannon through the wheelhouse of the ''Albatross'' which blew off the ship's wheel and exposed the ship's
relieving tackles, the ship's officers and enlisted men were still able to capture the fort's heavy works and inflict serious damage on two Confederate steamships, the
CSS ''Grand Duke'' and ''Mary T''. For his efforts that day, which involved operating the relieving tackles under withering fire in order to move his ship out of harm's way, Brown was later awarded the
U.S. Medal of Honor. The award of Brown's Medal of Honor was announced via General Order No. 32 on April 16, 1864:
[Thompson, M. S., compiler. ]
General Orders and Circulars Issued by the Navy Department from 1863 to 1887, with an Alphabetical Index of Subjects; Also an Index of Bureau and Marine Corps Circulars, General Court-Martial Orders, and Special Death Notices
', pp. 15-16. Washington, D.C.: Government Printing Office, 1887.
Awarding medals of honor to—
*J. K. L. Duncan, orindary seaman, Fort Hindman.
* Hugh Melloy, orindary seaman, Fort Hindman.
* Wm. P. Johnson, landsman, Fort Hindman.
* Bartlett Laffey, seaman, ''Petrel''.
* Jas. Stoddard, seaman, ''Marmora''.
* Wm. J. Franks, seaman, ''Marmora''.
* Richard Seward, paymaster's steward, ''Commodore''.
* Christopher Nugent, orderly sargeant Marines, Fort Henry.
* James Brown, quartermaster, ''Albatross''.
* William Moore, boatswain's mate, ''Benton''.
* William P. Brownell, cockswain, ''Benton''.
* John Jackson, ordinary seaman, ''C. P. Williams'' (*Awarded under an erroneous report—not entitled to it)
* William Talbot, captain forecastle, ''Louisville''.
* Richard Stout, landsman, ''Isaac Smith''.
* Geo W. Leland, gunner's mate, ''Lehigh''.
* Thos. Irving, cockswain, ''Lehigh''.
* Horatio N. Young, seaman, ''Lehigh''.
* William William, landsman, ''Lehigh''.
* Frank S. Gile, landsman, ''Lehigh''.
* Michael Huskey, fireman, ''Carondelet''.
* John Dorman, seaman, ''Carondelet''.
* William Farley, boatswain's mate, ''Marblehead''.
* Chas. Moore, landsman, ''Marblehead''.
* James Miller, quartermaster, ''Marblehead''.
* Robert Blake (colored), powder boy, ''Marblehead''.
Medal of Honor citation
See also
*
List of American Civil War Medal of Honor recipients: A–F
*
Union Navy
*
USS ''Albatross''
External links
*
James Brown (memorial and gravesite information). Salt Lake City, Utah: Find A Grave, retrieved online August 21, 2018.
*
, in "Online Library of Selected Images: U.S. Navy Ships". Washington, D.C.: Naval Historical Center, U.S. Department of the Navy, retrieved online August 21, 2018.
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Brown, James
1820s births
1905 deaths
People of New York (state) in the American Civil War
Union Navy officers
United States Navy Medal of Honor recipients
American Civil War recipients of the Medal of Honor