James Ward (born 1833, date of death unknown) was a

Union Navy The Union Navy was the United States Navy (USN) during the American Civil War, when it fought the Confederate States Navy (CSN). The term is sometimes used carelessly to include vessels of war used on the rivers of the interior while they were und ...

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 state ...

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 fl ...

. Born in 1833 in

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the most densely populated major city in the U ...

, Ward was still living in the state of New York when he joined the Navy. He served during the Civil War as a quarter gunner on the . At the

on August 5, 1864, he was wounded as his ship engaged the at close range. Refusing to go below decks, he instead manned a gun after its crew had become casualties, and then took

depth sounding Depth sounding, often simply called sounding, is measuring the depth of a body of water. Data taken from soundings are used in bathymetry to make maps of the floor of a body of water, such as the seabed topography. Soundings were traditionall ...

s ("heaved the lead") from platforms on the side of the ship's hull (known as the

chains A chain is a wikt:series#Noun, serial assembly of connected pieces, called links, typically made of metal, with an overall character similar to that of a rope in that it is flexible and curved in compression (physics), compression but line (g ...

) until nearly being crushed when ''Lackawanna'' rammed ''Tennessee''. For this action, he was awarded the Medal of Honor four months later, on December 31, 1864. Ward's official Medal of Honor citation reads:

Serving as gunner on board the U.S.S. ''Lackawanna'' during successful attacks against Fort Morgan, rebel gunboats and the ram ''Tennessee'' in Mobile Bay, 5 August 1864. Although wounded and ordered below, Ward refused to go, but rendered aid at one of the guns when the crew was disabled. He subsequently remained in the chains, heaving the lead, until nearly caught in the collision with the ram ''Tennessee''. He continued to serve bravely throughout the action which resulted in the capture of the prize ram ''Tennessee'' and in the damaging and destruction of Fort Morgan.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Ward, James 1833 births Year of death unknown Military personnel from New York City 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