Medal of Honor
August 5, 1864
Mobile Bay, Alabama, USA
- Rank at action
- Captain of the Forecastle
- Service
- U.S. Navy
- Conflict
- Civil War
- Unit or command
- USS Richmond
The Citation
Sources ↓As captain of a gun on board the U.S.S: Richmond during action against rebel forts and gunboats and with the ram Tennessee, in Mobile Bay, 5 August 1864. Despite damage to his ship and the loss of several men on board as enemy fire raked her decks, Smith fought his gun with skill and courage throughout the prolonged battle which resulted in the surrender of the rebel ram Tennessee and in the successful attacks carried out on Fort Morgan.
Sources & record notes
General Order comparison: pending. Current-profile review does not mean that the underlying original order has been examined.
- James 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-003316
- Transcription status
- Legacy full text · current reference profile matched
- Last source check
- 2026-09-01
- Recorded order reference (not verified against the original)
- 45
- Accredited to
- New York
- Archive transcription SHA-256
- bc928a05a9a318f7d70ac54a6402732685a910da5e65295f36620899852b6d11
Legacy transcription retained without substantive editing; rendered current reference profile comparison is documented in the Phase 10 evidence snapshot.
The USS Richmond profile is selected by ship, rank, and Mobile Bay action.
