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Seaman · U.S. Navy

Hendrick Sharp

Seaman Hendrick Sharp, Navy, received the Medal of Honor for actions on August 5, 1864 at Fort Mogan, Mobile Bay, Alabama during the Civil War.

U.S. Civil War August 5, 1864Born in Spain

Seaman Hendrick Sharp, a sailor in the U.S. Navy, received the Medal of Honor for gallantry on August 5, 1864 at Fort Mogan, Mobile Bay, Alabama during the Civil War. At the time he was serving with U.S.S. Richmond. Sharp was about 49 years old.

97 other service members also received the Medal of Honor for actions on the same day.

Sharp was born in 1815 in Malaga, Spain — one of 2 recipients born in Spain. His Medal of Honor is credited to New York, New York. Sharp died in July 1892, at the age of about 77. He is buried at Ted Conaway National Cemetery in Portsmouth, Virginia.

Sharp is one of 1,525 Medal of Honor recipients from the Civil War and one of 678 credited to New York.

Official Medal of Honor citation

As captain of a 100-pounder rifle gun on topgallant forecastle on board the U.S.S. Richmond during action against rebel forts and gunboats and against 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, Sharp fought his gun with skill and courage throughout a furious two-hour battle which resulted in the surrender of the rebel ram Tennessee and in the damaging and destruction of batteries at Fort Morgan.

Citation text: U.S. Government, public domain.

Battles and campaigns

Also served in: American Civil War.

Places

  • Born: Spain — map
  • Died: Norfolk Naval Shipyard — map
  • Buried: Captain Ted Conaway Memorial Naval Cemetery — map

Veteran resources, cemeteries and meeting places in New York →

Timeline

  1. 1815
    Born in Malaga, Spain
  2. August 5, 1864
    Act of valor — Fort Mogan, Mobile Bay, Alabama
    Age about 49. U.S.S. Richmond
  3. July 1892
    Died
    Age about 77.
  4. Resting place
    Ted Conaway National Cemetery
    Portsmouth, Virginia

Biography

Hendrick Sharp (c. 1815 – July 1892) was a Union Navy sailor in the American Civil War and a recipient of the U.S. military's highest decoration, the Medal of Honor, for his actions at the Battle of Mobile Bay.

From the Wikipedia article “Hendrick Sharp”, licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0. Read the full article →

Also honored for actions on August 5, 1864

TA Thomas E. Atkinson Yeoman · Navy Civil War · 1864 JA James Avery Seaman · Navy Civil War · 1864 CB Charles Baker Quarter Gunner · Navy Civil War · 1864 WB William Blagheen Ship's Cook · Navy Civil War · 1864 JB John Brazell Quartermaster · Navy Civil War · 1864 JB John Brown Captain of the Forecastle · Navy Civil War · 1864 RB Robert Brown Captain of the Top · Navy Civil War · 1864 WB William H. Brown Landsman · Navy Civil War · 1864 WB Wilson Brown Landsman · Navy Civil War · 1864 JB John M. Burns Seaman · Navy Civil War · 1864 WC William M. Carr Master-at-Arms · Navy Civil War · 1864 MC Michael Cassidy Landsman · Navy Civil War · 1864

See all 98 recipients for August 5, 1864 →

Same unit

JH John S. Hickman Second Class Fireman · Navy Civil War · 1863 MM Matthew McClelland First Class Fireman · Navy Civil War · 1863 TM Thomas Mitchell Landsman · Navy Interim 1871–1899 · 1879 JR John Rush First Class Fireman · Navy Civil War · 1863 Joseph E. Vantine First Class Fireman · Navy Civil War · 1863

More Civil War recipients from New York

AE Andrew Henry Embler Captain · Army Civil War · 1864 William Donaldson Dickey Captain · Army Civil War · 1864 JC John Nicholas Coyne Sergeant · Army Civil War · 1862 EJ Eugene Philip Jacobson Sergeant Major · Army Civil War · 1863 JW John Woon Boatswain's Mate · Navy Civil War · 1863 LA Lester Archer Sergeant · Army Civil War · 1864 ✦
Sources. Service and award details compiled from the recipient record of the Congressional Medal of Honor Society, Wikidata and Wikipedia. The narrative summary is generated from these records. Spotted an error? Send a correction.