MOH Awarded for Sinking CSS Albemarle: Part II

Abandoning Picket Boat No. 1 (US Naval Historical Center (NH 4222))

Edward J. Houghton

Edward J. Houghton, an ordinary seaman on the Chicopee, in October 1864, was the eldest of five sons of Irish immigrants Richard Houghton and his wife Catherine (Kelley) Houghton.  He was born in Mobile, Alabama in 1843.  Sometime prior to 1850 the family moved to East Boston, Massachusetts where Richard was a grocer. Catherine appears to have died in 1856 and Richard in 1860.  In 1860 the family lived in Suffolk, Massachusetts.  

On July 19, 1862, Edward Houghton enlisted in Company K, Thirty-ninth Massachusetts Volunteer Infantry.  Houghton was reportedly nineteen years of age, five feet four inches tall, had hazel eyes, black hair and a light complexion. His occupation was listed as mariner.*  He transferred to the navy on April 19, 1864.  Naval enlistment records for May 1864 show Houghton, a native of Mobile, Alabama enlisting in the navy in Brooklyn on May 4 for one and a half years as an ordinary seaman.  He was twenty-one years of age with hazel eyes, brown hair and a dark complexion and stood five feet five and one half inches tall. 

 On July 16, 1865, one day before he was to be honorably discharged from the navy, Edward J. Houghton was stabbed and killed by Henry Smith, at Gosport, Virginia, when a fight broke out amongst a number of sailors on shore leave. Houghton was originally buried in the Naval Cemetery at Norfolk, Virginia.  In 1890 he was disinterred and reburied at Holyrood Cemetery in Brookline, Massachusetts.  

*Naval enlistment records show an eighteen year old Edward Houghton who had been born in Mobile, Alabama, enlisting in the navy as an ordinary seaman in Boston for 2 years on December 6, 1861. Houghton was described as being 5 feet five inches tall with hazel eyes, black hair and a light complexion.  He deserted in December 31,1861.

Edward J. Houghton (Congressional Medal of Honor Society photo)

 Lorenzo Deming

Lorenzo Deming was a landsman on Picket Boat No. 1 in October 1864.  He was born on September 6, 1843, in Granby, Connecticut, the second youngest of five child of Gideon and Lovisa (Bidwell) Deming. Lorenzo was a mechanic in New Haven, Connecticut when he enlisted in the United States Navy, as a substitute, for one year, on September 8, 1864. (Navy enlistment records indicate Lorenzo had served one year in the navy prior to his September 8, 1864 enlistment.)  Deming was twenty-one years old, stood five feet six and one-hand inches tall and had hazel eyes, brown hair and a dark complexion.  He was captured on October 28, 1864, and died at the Confederate Prison in Salisbury, North Carolina on February 5, 1865.  Lorenzo Deming is probably buried within the grounds of what is now Salisbury National Cemetery.  

Henry Wilkes

Henry Wilkes was a landsman on Picket Boat No. 1 in October 1864.  Wilkes was born in 1845 in New York City, New York.  Henry was the oldest of John and Elizabeth Wilkes three children.   He was nineteen years old when he enlisted in the United States Navy, for two years, as a substitute, on September 13, 1864.  At the time of his enlistment he was employed as a printer.  Henry was five feet five and three-quarter inches tall, had hazel eyes, brown hair and a fair complexion. 

After being discharged from the navy Henry returned to New York and married.  He and his wife Louisa( Lucy) had two children before Henry's death on March 3, 1888.  Henry is buried in Beverwyck Cemetery in Rensselaer, New York.  

 Daniel Griffin George (alias William Smith)

Daniel Griffin George, was an ordinary seaman on the Chicopee, in October 1864, when he volunteered to serve on Picket Boat No. 1.  Daniel was born on July 7, 1840, in Plaistow, New Hampshire to shoemaker Lyman P. George and his wife Eliza.  He was the oldest of seven children.  Prior to 1850 the family moved to Massachusetts.  By 1860 they were living in Salem.

An article in the April 2, 1898, Brooklyn Eagle mentioned Daniel "sailed out of New Bedford for a three year cruise on a whaler in the Arctic Ocean" in 1857 when he was 17.  On September 16, 1861, he enlisted as a private in Company D First Massachusetts Volunteer Cavalry, for three years.  At the time of his enlistment George was twenty-one years of age.  He was five feet seven and one-half inches tall, with blue eyes, brown hair and a light complexion. Daniel was promoted to sergeant February 8, 1863.  He was captured June 17, 1863, at the Battle of Aldie, Virginia and paroled at Annapolis in August.  

George reenlisted in the First Massachusetts Volunteer Cavalry on January 1, 1864, and "transferred to the United States Navy on May 7, 1864, as an ordinary seaman under the name of William Smith."  George was captured on October 28, 1864. Upon being paroled he returned to the Chicopee and served on several navy ships, for a time as a coxswain, until being discharged on April 26, 1866. Upon being discharged from the navy Daniel George returned to New Hampshire.  

Daniel George married Florence A. Blake in Boston on February 23, 1864.  She died on bronchitis on August 4, 1866. On September 6, 1866, George married Mary E. Beardsley in Danville, New Hampshire.  They would have eight sons and two daughters before Mary's death in 1911.  The George family lived in New Hampshire, where George was employed as a shoemaker and later a farmer. By 1900 they were living in Massachusetts.  George died on February 26, 1916.  He and his wife Mary are buried in Locust Grove Cemetery, in Merrimac, Massachusetts.

*George purportedly "changed names" with William Smith when he joined the navy so he could serve on the Chicopee with his friend Edward J. Houghton.

Robert Henry King

Robert Henry King, a landsman on Picket Boat No. 1, in October 1864, was born in the Eighth Ward of the City of Albany, New York November 8, 1844.  He was the second child of Samuel W. and Susan M. King.  Robert had an older sister named Henrietta.  Robert's mother died on December 5, 1844, when he was less than a month old.  Samuel, who was a successful merchant, would marry a second time and father four additional children before passing away from dropsy on June 18, 1864, leaving Robert King an orphan.  

Robert enlisted in the United States Navy on September 10, 1864, as a substitute, in New York City.  At the time of his enlistment Henry was a nineteen years old laborer.  He was five feet three and one-half inches tall, with grey eyes, dark brown hair and a fair complexion.  King was captured on October 28, 1864.  After being paroled on February 21st he returned to Albany, New York where he died of typhoid fever on April 10, 1865.  He is buried in Albany Rural Cemetery, Menard, Albany County, New York.

    Robert Henry King (Congressional Medal of Honor Society photo)

Source information for this post includes, but is not limited too, newspaper articles from 

Newspapers.com, records from Ancestry.com and Fold3.com, and information pertaining to Medal of Honor recipients. 

Medals of Honor Awarded for Sinking CSS Albemarle

Picket Boat No. 1 (US Naval History Center photo NH 63378)

 Lieutenant William Barker Cushing received the thanks of the Navy Department and the thanks of the United States Congress for leading the expedition that successfully sank the ironclad ram CSS Albemarle on October 28, 1864.   He was also promoted one grade from lieutenant to lieutenant commander.  There were fourteen officers and enlisted men that accompanied Cushing in Picket Boat No. 1, including:  

     Acting Asst. Paymaster Francis H. Swan, USS Otsego (captured)

    Acting Ensign William L. Howarth, USS Monticello (captured)

    Acting Master's Mate John Woodman, USS Commodore Hull (drowned)

    Acting Master's Mate Thomas S. Gay, USS Otsego (captured)

    Acting 3rd Asst. Engineer William Stotesbury, US Picket Boat No. 1 (captured)

    Acting 3rd Asst. Engineer Charles L. Steever, USS Ostego (captured)

    First Class Fireman Samuel Higgins, US Picket Boat No. 1 (drowned)

    Coal Heaver, Richard Hamilton, USS Shamrock (captured)

    Ordinary Seaman Bernard Harley, USS Chicopee (captured)

    Ordinary Seaman Edward J. Houghton, USS Chicopee (escaped)

    Ordinary Seaman, William Smith, (Daniel G. George), USS Chicopee (captured)

    Landsman, Lorenzo Deming, US Picket Boat No. 1 (captured)

    Landsman, Henry Wilkes, US Picket Boat No. 1 (captured)

    Landsman Robert H. King, US Picket Boat No. 1 (captured)

Cushing and Edward J. Houghton escaped. Samuel Higgins and John Woodman drowned.  Their bodies were recovered and taken to New Bern, North Carolina for burial in what is now New Bern National Cemetery.   The remaining eleven men were captured and sent to a number of Confederate POW camp, including Salisbury and Danville, North Carolina and Libby Prison in Richmond, Virginia before being paroled on February 21, 1865.

The seven enlisted men of Cushing's crew, that survived, would ultimately be awarded the Medal of Honor.  Their citations read as follows:

[This recipient] "served on board the US Picket Boat No. 1, in action, 27 October 1864, against the Confederate ram, Albemarle, which had resisted repeated attacks by our steamers and had kept a large force of vessels employed in watching her.  The picket boat, equipped with a spar torpedo, succeeded in passing the enemy pickets within 20 yards without being discovered and then made for the Albemarle under a full head of steam.  Immediately taken under fire by the ram, the small boat plunged on, jumped the log boom which encircled the target, and exploded its torpedo under the port bow of the ram.  The picket boat was destroyed by enemy fire and almost the entire crew taken prisoner or lost."  

Five of the recipients including Richard Hamilton, Bernard Harley, William Smith, Henry Wilkes and Robert H. King would receive their medals from Commodore Montgomery in a ceremony at the Naval Yard in Washington D.C., on  March 15, 1865.  The March 16, 1865 Philadelphia Inquirer, reported, "The medals [were] prepared by the Navy Department.  Each medal was accompanied by a letter from the Secretary saying it was awarded for gallant and meritorious conduct."

Naval officers were not able to receive the Medal of Honor until 1915, however the five officers present with Cushing were advanced one grade for "conspicuous gallantry."

All the participants would receive a share of the prize money awarded for the destruction of the ram.  

Following are the stories of the  Medal of Honor Recipients. 

Richard Hamilton

Richard Hamilton, a coal heaver on the Shamrock, in  October 1864, was born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania January 23, 1836.  He was the eldest of six children, five sons and a daughter, born to George and Emma Hamilton prior to George's death in 1856.  Richard was employed as a cooper when he enlisted as a private in Company H, Seventeenth Pennsylvania Volunteer Infantry on April 18, 1861.  The company was mustered in on April 25th.  The regiment  spent time in Maryland and western Virginia prior to mustering out after three months on August 2, 1861.  

On February 23, 1864, Richard enlisted in the United States Navy for one year.  He was twenty-eight years old, stood five feet seven and one-half inches tall, had blue eyes, brown hair and a light complexion.  Hamilton served on the USS North Carolina from February 23 to June 13, 1864.  On the 14th he transferred to the Shamrock.  Richard was captured at Plymouth, North Carolina, October 28, 1864, and was paroled March 10, 1865, at Cox's Wharf  on the James River in Virginia.  He was discharged from the navy March 20th.

 Richard Hamilton married Mary Jane Nugent July 3, 1856, in Philadelphia.  The 1880 Federal Census shows Richard living in Camden New Jersey with his wife Mary and a son George A. Hamilton age 9. Richard worked as a cooper.   

Hamilton died of paralysis July 6, 1881, in Camden New Jersey.  He is buried in Evergreen Cemetery in Camden.

Bernard Harley  

Bernard Harley, an ordinary seaman on the Chicopee, in October 1864, was born November 14, 1842, in Brooklyn, New York's Ninth Ward.  He was the second to youngest son of Irish immigrants Hugh and Ann (Boyle) Harley.  In the 1860 Federal Census Hugh, Sr was listed as an oil cloth maker.  Seventeen year old Bernard and his younger brother Hugh were employed as paper stainers, a printer who patterned wall paper.  

On October 19, 1860, Bernard enlisted in the United States Navy as a First Class Cabin Boy for three years.  At the time of his enlistment he was eighteen years old, stood five feet three inches tall, had grey eyes, light hair and a light complexion.  He must have been discharged in the fall of 1863 because he enlisted as a private in Company F, 84th New York Volunteer Infantry for three years on December 8th.  He was mustered in on December 13th.  The roster of the 84th New York notes Bernard transferred to the Navy on April 26, 1864.  Enlistment record's for the navy show Bernard re-enlisting in New York on May 5, 1864, for 2.75 years.  Bernard's occupation is listed as sailor in the naval records.

After being paroled, Bernard rejoined the navy. At some point he was assigned to the USS Delaware prior to being discharged from the navy on August 3, 1865.

After being discharged Bernard returned to Brooklyn.  On July 26, 2874, he married Annie Sutton.  Bernard was employed as a laborer at the New York Naval yard at the time of his death from Bright's Disease on Friday January 15, 1886.  he was buried on January 17, 1886, at Holy Cross Cemetery in Brooklyn, New York.

to be continued.