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Medal of Honor Recipient

James H. Lee

U.S. Navy · U.S. Civil War

MOH-RC-002475Source-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: 1864

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

June 19, 1864

off Cherbourg, France

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

The Citation

Sources ↓
Served as seaman on board the U.S.S. Kearsarge when she destroyed the Alabama off Cherbourg, France, 19 June 1864. Acting as sponger of the No. 1 gun during this bitter engagement, Lee exhibited marked coolness and good conduct and was highly recommended for his gallantry under fire by the divisional officer.

Sources & record notes

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

  1. James H. Lee — 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-002486
Transcription status
Legacy full text · current reference profile matched
Last source check
2026-08-30
Recorded order reference (not verified against the original)
45
Later or highest recorded rank
Captain of the Top
Accredited to
New York
Archive transcription SHA-256
cf07e525b18710ccf7d8905c64edf3eb029a1837f5b563f9b3a1e5022df37922

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, unit or command, action context, and citation; candidate rank or successful rendering alone was not treated as verification. The exact current profile heading is James H Lee; the controlled display name is James H. Lee, and both forms remain preserved. The action rank Seaman remains distinct from the later or highest rank Captain of the Top. The controlled canonical unit or command is U.S.S. Kearsarge; the current structured profile renders U.S.S. Kearsarge, and the inherited wording Not documented remains preserved as a separately attributed variant. The current authoritative evidence controls the action date as 1864-06-19 and classifies the action under U.S. Civil War; the inherited unnormalized date and conflict values remain preserved. The controlled historical action place is off Cherbourg, France; the current structured place off Cherbourg, France and the complete inherited geocoder value Cherbourg, France remain preserved. The inherited full citation remains canonical and checksum-protected; current rendered wording is preserved separately where transcribed. No underlying General Order was examined, so the exact-order gate remains pending and no General Order verification is claimed.

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