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Medal of Honor Recipient

George H. Bell

U.S. Navy · Civil War

MOH-RC-002185Source-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: 1861

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

November 7, 1861

Galveston Bay, Texas, USA

Rank at action
Captain of the Afterguard
Service
U.S. Navy
Conflict
Civil War
Unit or command
USS Santee

The Citation

Sources ↓
Citation: Served as pilot of the U.S.S. Santee when that vessel was engaged in cutting out the rebel armed schooner Royal Yacht from Galveston Bay, 7 November 1861, and evinced more coolness, in passing the 4 forts and the rebel steamer General Rusk, than was ever before witnessed by his commanding officer. "Although severely wounded in the encounter, he displayed extraordinary courage under the most painful and trying circumstances."

Sources & record notes

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

  1. George H. Bell — current Society profile ↗Congressional Medal of Honor Society · Checked 2026-08-30

    current identity, service, action metadata, and citation comparison

Transcription, metadata & provenance notes
Award ID
MOH-AW-002195
Transcription status
Legacy full text · current reference profile matched
Last source check
2026-08-30
Recorded order reference (not verified against the original)
17
Accredited to
New York
Archive transcription SHA-256
98586129df287e98f4cbd3f5bdccbfdc5e518da5ffb6e4dfe710057f6a41c83f

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

The inherited candidate set did not contain the controlling current reference profile at https://www.cmohs.org/recipients/george-h-bell. A controlled archival reference search recovered the profile; identity, service, rank, action context, and citation evidence match the inherited record, while every inherited candidate and stale URL remain preserved. The current authoritative source expands or normalizes the inherited name from George Bell to George H. Bell; both forms remain preserved. The exact rendered source heading “George H Bell” is preserved separately from the canonical display form “George H. Bell”. The current profile records USS Santee; the inherited unit field Not documented remains preserved as a source variant. The previously unnormalized action date is controlled as 1861-11-07 from the current authoritative profile. The current source confirms the inherited historical action place Galveston Bay, Texas, USA. The current authoritative profile classifies the action under Civil War; the inherited unclassified value remains preserved in the audit record. No underlying General Order was examined, so the exact-order gate remains pending and no General Order verification is claimed.

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