TRACKPADS Armored in facts. Driven by stories.

Sitewide Search

SEARCH TRACKPADS

Search Medal of Honor recipients, Dispatch articles, Wiki records, pages, books, series, podcasts, and direct-linked episodes.

Medal of Honor Recipient

Edwin Smith

U.S. Navy · Civil War

MOH-RC-003018Source-based record

The award

Representative medal image: early Navy star design and striped ribbon. Not a portrait or a photograph of this recipient’s own medal.
Navy Medal of HonorAction-era reference: 1862

Portrait not yet available. Representative medal shown.

About this image

Presentation date is not usable for design selection. This is an action-era reference; a later presentation or replacement medal may differ.

Medal imagery and historical designs →

Medal of Honor

1862-10-03

Franklin, Virginia, USA

Rank at action
Ordinary Seaman
Service
U.S. Navy
Conflict
Civil War
Unit or command
U.S.S. Whitehead

The Citation

Sources ↓
On board the U.S.S. Whitehead in the attack upon Franklin, Va., 3 October 1862. When his ship became grounded in a narrow passage as she rounded a bend in the Blackwater River, Smith, realizing the hazards of lowering a boat voluntarily swam to shore with a line under the enemy's heavy fire. His fearless action enabled his ship to maintain steady fire and keep the enemy in check during the battle.

Sources & record notes

General Order comparison: pending. Current-profile review does not mean that the underlying original order has been examined.

  1. Edwin Smith — Congressional Medal of Honor Society recipient profile ↗Congressional Medal of Honor Society · Checked 2026-09-01

    current identity, service, action metadata, and citation comparison

Transcription, metadata & provenance notes
Award ID
MOH-AW-003033
Transcription status
Legacy full text · current reference profile matched
Last source check
2026-09-01
Accredited to
New York
Archive transcription SHA-256
dd327b772fee40e1a42be770c42c37ea2d89eeb9fc77c468d83fc8bf8fd5f233

Legacy transcription retained without substantive editing; rendered current reference profile comparison is documented in the Phase 10 evidence snapshot.

Ordinary Seaman is retained as rank at action, distinct from the later highest rank Mate.

Continue Across Trackpads

FOLLOW THE SUBJECT.