Samuel W. Davis

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Samuel W. Davis
Samuel W Davis Medal of Honor.jpg
Reverse of Davis' Medal of Honor
BornJanuary 23, 1846
Brewer, Maine
DiedMay 5, 1914
Boston, Massachusetts
Place of burial
Oak Hill Cemetery
Brewer, Maine
AllegianceFlag of the United States (1861-1863).svg  United States of America
Union
Service/branchFlag of the United States.svg  United States Navy
Union Navy
Rank Ordinary Seaman
Unit USS Brooklyn
Battles/wars American Civil War
 • Battle of Mobile Bay
AwardsMedal of Honor ribbon.svg Medal of Honor

Samuel Walker Davis (January 23, 1846 - May 5, 1914) was a Union Navy sailor in the American Civil War and a recipient of the U.S. military's highest decoration, the Medal of Honor, for his actions at the Battle of Mobile Bay.

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 under the control of the United States Army, also called the Union Army.

American Civil War Civil war in the United States from 1861 to 1865

The American Civil War was a war fought in the United States from 1861 to 1865, between the North and the South. The Civil War is the most studied and written about episode in U.S. history. Primarily as a result of the long-standing controversy over the enslavement of black people, war broke out in April 1861 when secessionist forces attacked Fort Sumter in South Carolina shortly after Abraham Lincoln had been inaugurated as the President of the United States. The loyalists of the Union in the North proclaimed support for the Constitution. They faced secessionists of the Confederate States in the South, who advocated for states' rights to uphold slavery.

Medal of Honor United States of Americas highest military honor

The Medal of Honor is the United States of America's highest and most prestigious personal military decoration that may be awarded to recognize U.S. military service members who have distinguished themselves by acts of valor. The medal is normally awarded by the President of the United States in the name of the U.S. Congress. Because the medal is presented "in the name of Congress", it is often referred to informally as the "Congressional Medal of Honor". However, the official name of the current award is "Medal of Honor." Within the United States Code the medal is referred to as the "Medal of Honor", and less frequently as "Congressional Medal of Honor". U.S. awards, including the Medal of Honor, do not have post-nominal titles, and while there is no official abbreviation, the most common abbreviations are "MOH" and "MH".

Contents

Military service

Born in 1846 in Brewer, Maine, Davis was still living in that city when he joined the Navy. He served during the Civil War as an ordinary seaman on the USS Brooklyn. At the Battle of Mobile Bay on August 5, 1864, he acted as a look-out for naval mines (then known as "torpedoes") despite heavy fire. For this action, he was awarded the Medal of Honor four months later, on December 31, 1864. [1] [2]

Brewer, Maine City in Maine, United States

Brewer is a city in Penobscot County, Maine, United States. It is part of the Bangor, Maine Metropolitan Statistical Area. The city is named after its first settler, Colonel John Brewer. The population was 9,482 at the 2010 census.

USS <i>Brooklyn</i> (1858)

USS Brooklyn (1858) was a sloop-of-war authorized by the U.S. Congress and commissioned in 1859. Brooklyn was active in Caribbean operations until the start of the American Civil War at which time she became an active participant in the Union blockade of the Confederate States of America.

Medal of Honor citation

US Navy Medal of Honor (1862 original).png

Rank and organization: Ordinary Seaman, U.S. Navy, Accredited to: Maine, G.O. No.: 45, 31 December 1864

Davis's official Medal of Honor citation reads:

On board the U.S.S. Brooklyn during successful attacks against Fort Morgan, rebel gunboats and the ram Tennessee in Mobile Bay, on 5 August 1864. Despite severe damage to his ship and the loss of several men on board as enemy fire raked her decks from stem to stern, Davis exercised extreme courage and vigilance while acting as a look-out for torpedoes and other obstructions throughout the furious battle which resulted in the surrender of the prize rebel ram Tennessee and in the damaging and destruction of batteries at Fort Morgan. [2]

Fort Morgan (Alabama) museum

Fort Morgan is a historic masonry Pentagonal bastion fort at the mouth of Mobile Bay, Alabama, United States. Named for Revolutionary War hero Daniel Morgan, it was built on the site of the earlier Fort Bowyer, an earthen and stockade type fortification involved in the final land battles of the War of 1812. Construction was completed in 1834 and it received its first garrison in March of the same year.

CSS <i>Tennessee</i> (1863)

CSS Tennessee was a casemate ironclad ram built for the Confederate Navy during the American Civil War. She served as the flagship of Admiral Franklin Buchanan, commander of the Mobile Squadron, after her commissioning. She was captured in 1864 by the Union Navy during the Battle of Mobile Bay and then participated in the Union's subsequent Siege of Fort Morgan. Tennessee was decommissioned after the war and sold in 1867 for scrap.

Death and burial

Medal of Honor recipient Samuel W. Davis died on May 5, 1914 of chronic diffuse nephritis at the Peter Bent Brigham Hospital in Boston, Massachusetts. He was buried in Oak Hill Cemetery in Brewer, Maine.

Boston Capital city of Massachusetts, United States

Boston is the capital and most populous city of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts in the United States. The city proper covers 48 square miles (124 km2) with an estimated population of 685,094 in 2017, making it also the most populous city in New England. Boston is the seat of Suffolk County as well, although the county government was disbanded on July 1, 1999. The city is the economic and cultural anchor of a substantially larger metropolitan area known as Greater Boston, a metropolitan statistical area (MSA) home to a census-estimated 4.8 million people in 2016 and ranking as the tenth-largest such area in the country. As a combined statistical area (CSA), this wider commuting region is home to some 8.2 million people, making it the sixth-largest in the United States.

Massachusetts State of the United States of America

Massachusetts, officially the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, is the most populous state in the New England region of the northeastern United States. It borders on the Atlantic Ocean to the east, the states of Connecticut and Rhode Island to the south, New Hampshire and Vermont to the north, and New York to the west. The state is named after the Massachusett tribe, which once inhabited the east side of the area, and is one of the original thirteen states. The capital of Massachusetts is Boston, which is also the most populous city in New England. Over 80% of Massachusetts's population lives in the Greater Boston metropolitan area, a region influential upon American history, academia, and industry. Originally dependent on agriculture, fishing and trade, Massachusetts was transformed into a manufacturing center during the Industrial Revolution. During the 20th century, Massachusetts's economy shifted from manufacturing to services. Modern Massachusetts is a global leader in biotechnology, engineering, higher education, finance, and maritime trade.

Davis' death notice in the May 7, 1914 Boston Herald newspaper read:

DAVIS - In this city, May 4, Samuel W. Davis, aged 63 yrs. Funeral services will be held at the funeral parlors of W. H. Graham, 1770 Washington st. Thursday afternoon, at 2 o'clock. Relatives and friends invited to attend. Burial at Brewer, Me.

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William Nichols was a Union Navy sailor in the American Civil War and a recipient of the U.S. military's highest decoration, the Medal of Honor, for his actions at the Battle of Mobile Bay.

Edward Price was a Union Navy sailor in the American Civil War and a recipient of the U.S. military's highest decoration, the Medal of Honor, for his actions at the Battle of Mobile Bay.

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Charles Melville was a Union Navy sailor in the American Civil War and a recipient of the U.S. military's highest decoration, the Medal of Honor, for his actions at the Battle of Mobile Bay.

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References

  1. ↑ "Samuel W. Davis". Hall of Valor. Military Times . Retrieved October 6, 2012.
  2. 1 2 "Civil War Medal of Honor Recipients (A–L)". Medal of Honor Citations. United States Army Center of Military History. June 26, 2011. Retrieved October 6, 2012.
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