American Civil War Medal of Honor Recipient. He was issued the award on December 31, 1864, for his actions as a landsman assigned to the Navy sloop-of war USS Hartford, on August 5, 1964, in Mobile Bay, Alabama. Born a slave, he enlisted in the US Navy in March 1863 and was assigned to the USS Hartford, the flagship of Rear Admiral David Farragut's West Gulf Blockading Squadron. On August 5, 1864, during the Battle of Mobile Bay, he and five other sailors worked on the Hartford's berth deck loading and operating the shell whip, a device which lifted boxes of gunpowder up to the gun deck. As they worked, a Confederate shell exploded in their midst, and he was blown through a hatch and landed unconscious on the deck below. After regaining consciousness, he returned to his duties and kept the ship's guns supplied with powder for the remainder of the battle. Following the war, he returned to his native Mississippi. His Medal of Honor citation reads: "On board the flagship U.S.S. Hartford during successful attacks against Fort Morgan, rebel gunboats and the ram CSS Tennessee (1863) in Mobile Bay on 5 August 1864. Knocked unconscious into the hold of the ship when an enemy shellburst fatally wounded a man on the ladder above him, Brown, upon regaining consciousness, promptly returned to the shell whip on the berth deck and zealously continued to perform his duties although 4 of the 6 men at this station had been either killed or wounded by the enemy's terrific fir
American Civil War Medal of Honor Recipient. He was issued the award on December 31, 1864, for his actions as a landsman assigned to the Navy sloop-of war USS Hartford, on August 5, 1964, in Mobile Bay, Alabama. Born a slave, he enlisted in the US Navy in March 1863 and was assigned to the USS Hartford, the flagship of Rear Admiral David Farragut's West Gulf Blockading Squadron. On August 5, 1864, during the Battle of Mobile Bay, he and five other sailors worked on the Hartford's berth deck loading and operating the shell whip, a device which lifted boxes of gunpowder up to the gun deck. As they worked, a Confederate shell exploded in their midst, and he was blown through a hatch and landed unconscious on the deck below. After regaining consciousness, he returned to his duties and kept the ship's guns supplied with powder for the remainder of the battle. Following the war, he returned to his native Mississippi. His Medal of Honor citation reads: "On board the flagship U.S.S. Hartford during successful attacks against Fort Morgan, rebel gunboats and the ram CSS Tennessee (1863) in Mobile Bay on 5 August 1864. Knocked unconscious into the hold of the ship when an enemy shellburst fatally wounded a man on the ladder above him, Brown, upon regaining consciousness, promptly returned to the shell whip on the berth deck and zealously continued to perform his duties although 4 of the 6 men at this station had been either killed or wounded by the enemy's terrific fir
Bio by: William Bjornstad
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