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Navy Civil War Campaign Medal to a Medal of Honor Recipient


Adam R
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In observance of National Medal of Honor Day:

 

US Navy Civil War Campaign Medal issued to Medal of Honor recipient Daniel D. Stevens. The medal is an original BB&B strike, numbered on the rim # 1521, issued to Stevens on February 19, 1913. The issue of the medal is documented by the receipt signed by Stevens, with the rim number written in, and the medal index card which also has the medal number and Stevens’ name.

 

Chief Quartermaster Stevens was awarded the Medal of Honor in 1870 for heroism on board the monitor USS Canonicus during the Second Battle of Fort Fisher on January 13, 1865. His citation reads, On board the U.S.S. Canonicus during attacks on Fort Fisher, on January 13, 1865. As the Canonicus moved into position at 700 yards from shore, the enemy troops soon obtained her range and opened with heavy artillery fire, subjecting her to several hits and near misses until late in the afternoon when the heavier ships coming into line drove them into their bombproofs. Twice during the battle, in which his ship sustained 36 hits, the flag was shot away and gallantly replaced by Stevens.”

 

Stevens served for almost the entire war, from November 1861 to August 1865. Click here for his Wikipedia entry. From the end of 1861 until early 1864 he was aboard the USS Pursuit.

 

Only 310 Navy Medals of Honor were awarded for the Civil War. Of the 3,000 rim numbered Civil War Campaign Medals that were issued to Navy veterans, less than 20 went to Medal of Honor recipients.

All of the documents shown below were scanned from records in the National Archives.

 

(I thought I had posted this medal previously on the Forum but can’t find it here in the Medal section.)

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Honor Roll certificate. Issued when recipient reached age 65 and received special pension.

 

 

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aerialbridge

A beautiful medal with wonderful history. Thanks for posting it and the rarely seen documentation, portrait and artist's rendition of the recipient's act of valor.

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  • 1 year later...

Just found a great photo of Steven's wearing his MoH. (The image was on the Smithsonian web site.) Current location of the MoH is still unknown to me.

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Adam,

 

It is great that you were able to find another image, and a much better image at that! I would assume that the photo in the Smithsonian was the basis for the first image that you posted. It is also great that you were able to resurrect this thread as it shows us a rare CW campaign medal and tells a story about a brave sailor who earned our nation's highest honor and eternal thanks.

 

Allan

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