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Medal of Honor Recipient

Thomas W. Hamilton

U.S. Navy · U.S. Civil War

MOH-RC-002371Source-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: 1863

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.

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Medal of Honor

May 27, 1863

Vicksburg, Mississippi, USA

Rank at action
Quartermaster
Service
U.S. Navy
Conflict
U.S. Civil War
Unit or command
U.S.S. Cincinnati

The Citation

Sources ↓
Serving as quartermaster on board the U.S.S. Cincinnati during the attack on the Vicksburg batteries and at the time of her sinking, 27 May 1863. Engaging the enemy in a fierce battle, the Cincinnati, amidst an incessant fire of shot and shell, continued to fire her guns to the last although so penetrated by enemy shell fire that her fate was sealed. Conspicuously gallant during this action, Hamilton, severely wounded at the wheel, returned to his post and had to be sent below, to hear the incessant roar of guns as the gallant ship went down, "her colors nailed to the mast."

Sources & record notes

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

  1. Thomas W. Hamilton — 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-002382
Transcription status
Legacy full text · current reference profile matched
Last source check
2026-08-30
Recorded order reference (not verified against the original)
17
Accredited to
Massachusetts
Archive transcription SHA-256
8b6e4dc2f4d65ac2f5492f6dd47dadd943b10338f402198dcdb1b98560ae4b18

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 Thomas W Hamilton; the controlled display name is Thomas W. Hamilton, and both forms remain preserved. The controlled canonical unit or command is U.S.S. Cincinnati; the current structured profile renders U.S.S. Cincinnati, and the inherited wording Not documented remains preserved as a separately attributed variant. The current authoritative evidence controls the action date as 1863-05-27 and classifies the action under U.S. Civil War; the inherited unnormalized date and conflict values remain preserved in the audit record. The controlled historical action place is Vicksburg, Mississippi, USA; the current structured place Vicksburg, Mississippi, USA and the complete inherited geocoder value Vicksburg, MS, USA remain preserved in the audit evidence. 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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