Charles Kenyon (born 1840) was an American recipient of the Medal of Honor who received the award for his actions during the American Civil War whilst serving with the Union Navy.
Kenyon was born in Marcy, Oneida County, New York in 1840. [1] [2] He served as a fireman aboard the USS Galena during the American Civil War. [3] He earned his medal in action on the James River, Virginia when his ship attacked Drewry's Bluff on May 15, 1862, as part of the Battle of Drewry's Bluff. [1] [4] His medal was issued on April 3, 1863. [2] Kenyon's date of death and burial location is unknown.
For extraordinary heroism in action, serving as Fireman on board the USS Galena in the attack upon Drewry's Bluff, 15 May 1862. Severely burned while extricating a priming wire which had become bent and fixed in the bow gun while his ship underwent terrific shelling from the enemy, Kenyon hastily dressed his hands with cotton waste and oil and courageously returned to his gun while enemy sharpshooters in rifle pits along the banks continued to direct their fire at the men at the guns. [2]
USS Galena was a wooden-hulled broadside ironclad built for the United States Navy during the American Civil War. The ship was initially assigned to the North Atlantic Blockading Squadron and supported Union forces during the Peninsula Campaign in 1862. She was damaged during the Battle of Drewry's Bluff because her armor was too thin to prevent Confederate shots from penetrating. Widely regarded as a failure, Galena was reconstructed without most of her armor in 1863 and transferred to the West Gulf Blockading Squadron in 1864. The ship participated in the Battle of Mobile Bay and the subsequent Siege of Fort Morgan in August. She was briefly transferred to the East Gulf Blockading Squadron in September before she was sent to Philadelphia, Pennsylvania for repairs in November.
The Battle of Drewry's Bluff, also known as the Battle of Fort Darling, or Fort Drewry, took place on May 15, 1862, in Chesterfield County, Virginia, as part of the Peninsula Campaign of the American Civil War. Four Union Navy warships, including the ironclads USS Monitor and Galena, and the United States Revenue Cutter Service's ironclad USRC Naugatuck steamed up the James River to test the defenses of Richmond, Virginia, the Confederate capital. They encountered submerged obstacles, and deadly accurate fire from the batteries of Fort Darling at Drewry's Bluff, which inflicted severe damage on Galena, forcing them to turn back.
Fort Darling was a Confederate military installation during the American Civil War located at Drewry's Bluff, a high point of 80–100 feet overlooking a bend in the James River south of Richmond in Chesterfield County, Virginia. It protected the Confederate capital of Richmond from Union naval attacks throughout most of the war.
Elmer Charles Bigelow was a United States Navy sailor and a recipient of America's highest military decoration, the Medal of Honor.
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John Freeman Mackie was a United States Marine Corps sergeant during the American Civil War. He was awarded the nation's highest military decoration for valor—the Medal of Honor, for his actions aboard the USS Galena during the battle with Confederate Marines and artillery batteries at Fort Darling near Richmond, Virginia, on May 15, 1862. He is one of the first two Marines to be awarded the Medal of Honor, and is considered to be the first Marine to receive the Medal of Honor in the history of the Marine Corps.
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John Kelley was an Irish born recipient of the Medal of Honor and sailor in the Union Navy during the American Civil War.