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Medal of Honor Recipient

James Barnum

U.S. Navy · Civil War

MOH-RC-002176Source-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: 1865

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

January 13, 1865–January 15, 1865

Fort Fisher, North Carolina, USA

Rank at action
Boatswain's Mate
Service
U.S. Navy
Conflict
Civil War
Unit or command
USS New Ironsides

The Citation

Sources ↓
Barnum served on board the U.S.S. New Ironsides during action in several attacks on Fort Fisher, 24 and 25 December 1864; and on 13, 14, and 15 January 1865. The ship steamed in and took the lead in the ironclad division close in shore and immediately opened its starboard battery in a barrage of well_directed fire to cause several fires and explosions and dismount several guns during the first 2 days of fighting. Taken under fire as she steamed into position on 13 January, the New Ironsides fought all day and took on ammunition at night despite severe weather conditions. When the enemy came out of his bombproofs to defend the fort against the storming party, the ship's battery disabled nearly every gun on the fort facing the shore before the cease-fire orders were given by the flagship. Barnum was commended for highly meritorious conduct during this period.

Sources & record notes

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

  1. James Barnum — 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-002186
Transcription status
Legacy full text · current reference profile matched
Last source check
2026-08-30
Recorded order reference (not verified against the original)
59
Accredited to
Massachusetts
Archive transcription SHA-256
0db8fd82454d89afd616b8706df6dad4d6eac7e3c29094e240972fbc10324d52

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

The inherited rank-1 Society candidate was confirmed by substantive comparison of identity, service, rank, action context, and citation; candidate rank or successful rendering alone was not treated as verification. The current source documents the following alias or alternate identity form on the same controlled identity: Bauman, James. The current profile records USS New Ironsides; the inherited unit field Not documented remains preserved as a source variant. The current profile records an action period from 1865-01-13 through 1865-01-15; the complete range is retained rather than reduced to one date. The current structured action period is January 13–15, 1865, while the rendered citation also references December 24–25, 1864; the full citation remains preserved without silently changing the structured range. The controlled historical action place is Fort Fisher, North Carolina, USA; the complete inherited geocoder value Fort Fisher Historic Museum, 1610 South Fort Fisher Boulevard, Kure Beach, NC 28449, USA remains preserved in the audit evidence. 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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