James Smith (1826 – October 31, 1881) 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 1826 in

Belfast Belfast ( , ; from ga, Béal Feirste , meaning 'mouth of the sand-bank ford') is the capital and largest city of Northern Ireland, standing on the banks of the River Lagan on the east coast. It is the 12th-largest city in the United Kingdo ...

, Ireland, Smith immigrated to the United States and was living in New York when he joined the U.S. Navy. He served during the Civil War as a

captain of the forecastle A petty officer (PO) is a non-commissioned officer in many navies and is given the NATO rank denotation OR-5 or OR-6. In many nations, they are typically equal to a sergeant in comparison to other military branches. Often they may be super ...

and gun captain on the . At the

on August 5, 1864, he "fought his gun with skill and courage" despite heavy fire. For this action, he was awarded the Medal of Honor four months later, on December 31, 1864. Smith's official Medal of Honor citation reads:

As captain of a gun on board the U.S.S. ''Richmond'' during action against rebel forts and gunboats and with 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. Despite damage to his ship and the loss of several men on board as enemy fire raked her decks, Smith fought his gun with skill and courage throughout the prolonged battle which resulted in the surrender of the rebel ram ''Tennessee'' and in the successful attacks carried out on
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 ...
.

Smith was married at St. James' Church, Manhattan, in May 1870 and had three children. He died on October 31, 1881, at age 54 or 55 and was buried in an unmarked pauper's grave in Calvary Cemetery, New York City. In the 1980s, one of his great-grandsons began an effort to have a marker placed on Smith's grave. Because other bodies had been buried in the same location, cemetery officials would allow neither the grave to be marked nor Smith's remains to be moved. The dispute culminated in an October 2, 1985, ruling by the

New York Supreme Court The Supreme Court of the State of New York is the trial-level court of general jurisdiction in the New York State Unified Court System. (Its Appellate Division is also the highest intermediate appellate court.) It is vested with unlimited civ ...

which ordered that Smith's body be disinterred for reburial in

Arlington National Cemetery Arlington National Cemetery is one of two national cemeteries run by the United States Army. Nearly 400,000 people are buried in its 639 acres (259 ha) in Arlington, Virginia. There are about 30 funerals conducted on weekdays and 7 held on Sa ...

, Virginia. His remains were interred at Arlington on May 30, 1986, following services at Manhattan's St. James' Church, where Smith was married 116 years earlier, and a ceremony at the

Lincoln Memorial The Lincoln Memorial is a U.S. national memorial built to honor the 16th president of the United States, Abraham Lincoln. It is on the western end of the National Mall in Washington, D.C., across from the Washington Monument, and is in the ...

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Smith, James 1826 births 1881 deaths Military personnel from Belfast Irish emigrants to the United States People of New York (state) in the American Civil War Union Navy sailors United States Navy Medal of Honor recipients Irish-born Medal of Honor recipients Burials at Arlington National Cemetery American Civil War recipients of the Medal of Honor