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Home Town Born in Spain, Accredited to Pennsylvania
Last Address John's Date of Passing and Burial Location are yet to be determined.
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Last Known Activity:
John Ortega
Union Navy
Medal of Honor Recipient promoted to acting master's mate
American Civil War Battle Streamer
JUAN "John" ORGEGA:
Seaman John Ortega (born in 1840 in Spain), was the first Hispanic sailor to be awarded the United States' highest military decoration for valor in combat — the Medal of Honor — for having distinguished himself during the South Atlantic Blockade by the Union Naval forces during the American Civil War.
Ortega, a resident of Pennsylvania, was a Spanish immigrant who joined the Union Navy in his adopted hometown in Pennsylvania. Ortega was assigned to the USS Saratoga during the American Civil War. The USS Saratoga, commissioned in 1843, was the third ship of the United States Navy baptized with that same name. It was a sloop-of-war under the command of Commander George Musalas Colvocoresses.
On January 13, 1864, Secretary of the United States Navy Gideon Welles, ordered Commander Colvocoresses and the USS Saratoga to proceed to Charleston, South Carolina, and report to Rear Admiral Dahlgren for duty in the South Atlantic Blockading Squadron in what is known as the Union blockade. The Union blockade was a massive effort on behave of the Union Navy designed to prevent the passage of trade goods, supplies, and arms to and from the Confederate States. Ortega was a member of the landing parties from the ship who made several raids in August and September which resulted in the capture of many prisoners and the taking or destruction of substantial quantities of ordnance, ammunition, and supplies. A number of buildings, bridges, and salt works were destroyed during the expedition. For his actions Seaman John Ortega was awarded the Medal of Honor and promoted to acting master's mate. (listed here as Petty Officer Boatswain's Mate)
Other Comments:
Medal of Honor citation
JOHN ORTEGA
Rank and organization: Seaman, U.S. Navy
Accredited To: Pennsylvania
Born: 1840, Spain
G.O. No.: 45, December 31, 1864
Citation:
Served as seaman on board the U.S.S. Saratoga during actions of that vessel on 2 occasions. Carrying out his duties courageously during these actions, Ortega conducted himself gallantly through both periods. Promoted to acting master's mate.
Master's mate is an obsolete rating which was used by the Royal Navy, United States Navy and merchant services in both countries for a senior petty officer who assisted the master. Master's mates evolved into the modern rank of Sub-Lieutenant in the Royal Navy, while in the merchant service they evolved into the numbered mates or officers.
Civil War
From Month/Year
April / 1861
To Month/Year
April / 1865
Description The American Civil War was an internal conflict fought in the United States from 1861 to 1865. The Union faced secessionists in eleven Southern states grouped together as the Confederate States of America. The Union won the war, which remains the bloodiest in U.S. history.
Among the 34 U.S. states in February 1861, seven Southern slave states individually declared their secession from the U.S. to form the Confederate States of America. War broke out in April 1861 when Confederates attacked the U.S. fortress of Fort Sumter. The Confederacy grew to include eleven states; it claimed two more states, the Indian Territory, and the southern portions of the western territories of Arizona and New Mexico (called Confederate Arizona). The Confederacy was never diplomatically recognized by the United States government nor by any foreign country. The states that remained loyal, including border states where slavery was legal, were known as the Union or the North. The war ended with the surrender of all the Confederate armies and the dissolution of the Confederate government in the spring of 1865.
The war had its origin in the factious issue of slavery, especially the extension of slavery into the western territories. Four years of intense combat left 620,000 to 750,000 soldiers dead, a higher number than the number of American military deaths in World War I and World War II combined, and much of the South's infrastructure was destroyed. The Confederacy collapsed and 4 million slaves were freed (most of them by Lincoln's Emancipation Proclamation). The Reconstruction Era (1863–1877) overlapped and followed the war, with the process of restoring national unity, strengthening the national government, and granting civil rights to freed slaves throughout the country.
My Participation in This Battle or Operation
From Month/Year
April / 1861
To Month/Year
April / 1865
Last Updated: Mar 16, 2020
Personal Memories
Memories On January 13, 1864, Secretary of the United States Navy Gideon Welles, ordered Commander Colvocoresses and the USS Saratoga to proceed to Charleston, South Carolina, and report to Rear Admiral Dahlgren for duty in the South Atlantic Blockading Squadron in what is known as the Union blockade. The Union blockade was a massive effort on behave of the Union Navy designed to prevent the passage of trade goods, supplies, and arms to and from the Confederate States. Ortega was a member of the landing parties from the ship who made several raids in August and September which resulted in the capture of many prisoners and the taking or destruction of substantial quantities of ordnance, ammunition, and supplies. A number of buildings, bridges, and salt works were destroyed during the expedition. For his actions Seaman John Ortega was awarded the Medal of Honor and promoted to acting master's mate.
