James Brown (sailor)

James H. Brown (1826–1905) was an officer in the United States Navy who served as quartermaster aboard the USS Albatross during the American Civil War. He received his nation's highest award for bravery during combat, the U.S. Medal of Honor, for his actions aboard ship during the Union Navy's May 4, 1863 attack on Fort DeRussy in an attempt to disrupt the hold by Confederates over the Red River region of Louisiana. That award was conferred on April 16, 1864.[1][2]

James H. Brown
Born1826
Rochester, New York
Allegiance United States of America
Service/branch United States Navy
RankQuartermaster
Unit United States Navy
Awards Medal of Honor

Formative years

Brown was born in Rochester, New York in 1826.[3]

Civil War
USS Albatross near Mobile, Alabama, September 1863 (William M. C. Philbrick, illustrator).

Brown enlisted in the U.S. Navy during the American Civil War. In 1863, he was serving as quartermaster aboard the 378-ton, screw-propelled wooden gunboat USS Albatross during the U.S. Navy's attack on Fort DeRussy, Louisiana on May 4. Despite sustaining heavy enemy fire that day, which included the projection of a ball from a 32-pound cannon through the wheelhouse of the Albatross which blew off the ship's wheel and exposed the ship's relieving tackles, the ship's officers and enlisted men were still able to capture the fort's heavy works and inflict serious damage on two Confederate steamships, the CSS Grand Duke and Mary T.[4] For his efforts that day, which involved operating the relieving tackles under withering fire in order to move his ship out of harm's way, Brown was later awarded the U.S. Medal of Honor.[5][6] The award of Brown's Medal of Honor was announced via General Order No. 32 on April 16, 1864:[7]

Awarding medals of honor to—

  • J. K. L. Duncan, orindary seaman, Fort Hindman.
  • Hugh Melloy, orindary seaman, Fort Hindman.
  • Wm. P. Johnson, landsman, Fort Hindman.
  • Bartlett Laffey, seaman, Petrel.
  • Jas. Stoddard, seaman, Marmora.
  • Wm. J. Franks, seaman, Marmora.
  • Richard Seward, paymaster's steward, Commodore.
  • Christopher Nugent, orderly sargeant Marines, Fort Henry.
  • James Brown, quartermaster, Albatross.
  • William Moore, boatswain's mate, Benton.
  • William P. Brownell, cockswain, Benton.
  • John Jackson, ordinary seaman, C. P. Williams (*Awarded under an erroneous report—not entitled to it)
  • William Talbot, captain forecastle, Louisville.
  • Richard Stout, landsman, Isaac Smith.
  • Geo W. Leland, gunner's mate, Lehigh.
  • Thos. Irving, cockswain, Lehigh.
  • Horatio N. Young, seaman, Lehigh.
  • William William, landsman, Lehigh.
  • Frank S. Gile, landsman, Lehigh.
  • Michael Huskey, fireman, Carondelet.
  • John Dorman, seaman, Carondelet.
  • William Farley, boatswain's mate, Marblehead.
  • Chas. Moore, landsman, Marblehead.
  • James Miller, quartermaster, Marblehead.
  • Robert Blake (colored), powder boy, Marblehead.

Medal of Honor citation

Served on board the U.S.S. Albatross during action against Fort De Russy in the Red River Area on May 4, 1863. After the steering wheel and wheel ropes had been shot away by rebel fire, Brown stood on the gun platform of the quarterdeck, exposing himself to a close fire of musketry from the shore, and rendered invaluable assistance by his expert management of the relieving tackles in extricating the vessel from a perilous position, and thereby aided in the capture of Fort De Russy's heavyworks[1][8][9]

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See also
  • "James H. Brown" (memorial and gravesite information). Salt Lake City, Utah: Find A Grave, retrieved online August 21, 2018.
  • "USS Albatross (1861-1865)", in "Online Library of Selected Images: U.S. Navy Ships". Washington, D.C.: Naval Historical Center, U.S. Department of the Navy, retrieved online August 21, 2018.

References
  1. "Civil War (A-L) Medal of Honor Recipients". Retrieved November 29, 2013.
  2. Shoemaker, W. R. Record of Medals of Honor Issued to the Officers and Enlisted Men of the United States Navy, Marine Corps and Coast Guard, 1862-1923 (James Brown). Washington, D.C.: Government Printing Office, 1924.
  3. Brown, Willie. United States Colored Troop: Importance in Civil War. Bloomington, Indiana: XLibris Corporation, 2016. ISBN 978-1-5144-7559-1
  4. "USS Albatross (1861-1865)", in "Online Library of Selected Images: U.S. Navy Ships". Washington, D.C.: Naval Historical Center, U.S. Department of the Navy, retrieved online August 21, 2018.
  5. "James Brown", in "USS Albatross", in "The US Navy at Fort DeRussy". Cottonport, Louisiana: Friends of Fort DeRussy, retrieved online August 21, 2018.
  6. "James Brown", in All Hands: The Bureau of Naval Personnel Information Bulletin, No. 474, August 1956, p. 7. Washington, D.C.: U.S. Bureau of Naval Personnel, retrieved online August 21, 2018.
  7. Thompson, M. S., compiler. General Orders and Circulars Issued by the Navy Department from 1863 to 1887, with an Alphabetical Index of Subjects; Also an Index of Bureau and Marine Corps Circulars, General Court-Martial Orders, and Special Death Notices, pp. 15-16. Washington, D.C.: Government Printing Office, 1887.
  8. Shoemaker, Record of Medals of Honor Issued to the Officers and Enlisted Men of the United States Navy, Marine Corps and Coast Guard, 1862-1923.
  9. "James Brown", in "Medal of Honor Recipients Affiliated with New York: Civil War". Saratoga Springs, New York: New York State Military Museum and Veterans Research Center, retrieved online August 21, 2018.
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