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Contact Info
Home Town Philadelphia, PA
Last Address Survived the Civil War, and died in Camden, New Jersey.
Date of Passing Jul 06, 1881
Wall/Plot Coordinates Evergreen Cemetery Camden, New Jersey
RICHARD HAMILTON January 23, 1836 – January 20, 1881
Coal Heaver, U.S. Navy
Medal of Honor for bravery during the American Civil War
Prisoner of War
U.S. Picket Boat No. 1, 27 October 1864
Rank and organization: Coal Heaver, U.S. Navy. Born: 1836, Philadelphia, Pa. Accredited to: Pennsylvania G.O. No.: 45, 31 December 1864. Medal of Honor citation below.
Hamilton, a native of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, was taken prisoner after the explosion, survived the war, and died in Camden, New Jersey on July 6, 1881.
Other Comments:
MEDAL OF HONOR
Citation:
Hamilton served on board the U.S. 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.
1865, Military Order of the Loyal Legion of the United States (MOLLUS)
