Medal of Honor
August 5, 1864
Mobile Bay, Alabama, USA
- Rank at action
- Coal Heaver
- Service
- U.S. Navy
- Conflict
- U.S. Civil War
- Unit or command
- U.S.S. Brooklyn
The Citation
Sources ↓On board the U.S.S. Brooklyn during successful attacks against Fort Morgan, rebel gunboats and the ram Tennessee in Mobile Bay, on 5 August 1864. Although wounded when heavy enemy return fire raked the decks of his ship, Sterling courageously remained at his post and continued passing shell until struck down a second time and completely disabled.
Sources & record notes
General Order comparison: pending. Current-profile review does not mean that the underlying original order has been examined.
- James E Sterling — current Society profile ↗Congressional Medal of Honor Society · Checked 2026-08-31
current identity, service, action metadata, and citation comparison
Transcription, metadata & provenance notes
- Award ID
- MOH-AW-002692
- Transcription status
- Legacy full text · current reference profile matched
- Last source check
- 2026-08-31
- Recorded order reference (not verified against the original)
- 45
- Accredited to
- Maine
- Archive transcription SHA-256
- 8c68f1290bc40e1912b6f5c6d9f60fcb332a04024d7f03db11fee950e470bbe4
Legacy transcription retained without substantive editing; rendered current reference profile variants documented in the Phase 10 evidence snapshot.
Current reference profile was substantively compared against the inherited identity, service, rank, unit or command, action context, and citation. Candidate rank or successful page rendering alone was not treated as verification.