Medal of Honor
October 27, 1864
Plymouth, North Carolina, USA
- Rank at action
- Coal Heaver
- Service
- U.S. Navy
- Conflict
- U.S. Civil War
- Unit or command
- U.S. Picket Boat No. 1
The Citation
Sources ↓Hamilton served on board the U.S. Picket Boat No. 1, in action, 27 October 1864, against the Confederate ram Albemarle which had resisted repeated attacks by our steamers and had kept a large force of vessels employed in watching her. The picket boat, equipped with a spar torpedo, succeeded in passing the enemy pickets within 20 yards without being discovered and then made for the Albemarle under a full head of steam. Immediately taken under fire by the ram, the small boat plunged on, jumped the log boom which encircled the target and exploded its torpedo under the port bow of the ram. The picket boat was destroyed by enemy fire and almost the entire crew taken prisoner or lost.
Sources & record notes
General Order comparison: pending. Current-profile review does not mean that the underlying original order has been examined.
- Richard Hamilton — Congressional Medal of Honor Society recipient profile ↗Congressional Medal of Honor Society · Checked 2026-09-02
current identity, service, action metadata, and citation comparison
Transcription, metadata & provenance notes
- Award ID
- MOH-AW-003380
- Transcription status
- Legacy full text · current reference profile matched
- Last source check
- 2026-09-02
- Recorded order reference (not verified against the original)
- 45
- Accredited to
- Pennsylvania
- Archive transcription SHA-256
- e877b6caf22df1d6caa73fbf52adea575373a23a34a28162cab20b5eeca9e77d
Legacy transcription retained without substantive editing; rendered current reference profile comparison is documented in the Phase 10 evidence snapshot.
Current official reference profile confirms identity and core action metadata; exact legacy citation text and checksum are retained; General Order comparison remains pending.