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Captain of the Top · U.S. Navy

James H. Morgan

Captain of the Top James H. Morgan, Navy, received the Medal of Honor for actions on August 5, 1864 at Mobile Bay, Alabama during the Civil War.

U.S. Civil War August 5, 1864

Captain of the Top James H. Morgan was a sailor in the U.S. Navy who received the Medal of Honor for his actions on August 5, 1864 at Mobile Bay, Alabama during the Civil War. At the time he was serving with U.S.S. Richmond. Morgan was about 24 years old.

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

Morgan was born in 1840 in New York. Morgan died on April 6, 1877, at the age of about 37. He is buried at Calvary Cemetery in Woodside, New York. Records also list him as Creevey, James H..

Morgan 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 a 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, Morgan fought his gun with skill and courage throughout the 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: New York — map
  • Buried: Woodside — map

Veteran resources, cemeteries and meeting places in New York →

Timeline

  1. 1840
    Born in New York
  2. August 5, 1864
    Act of valor — Mobile Bay, Alabama
    Age about 24. U.S.S. Richmond
  3. April 6, 1877
    Died
    Age about 37.
  4. Resting place
    Calvary Cemetery
    Woodside, New York

Biography

James H. Morgan (1840 – April 6, 1877) 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. Born in 1840 in New York, Morgan's birth name was James H. Creevey. He joined the Navy from his home state of New York and served during the Civil War as a captain of the top and gun captain on the USS Richmond. At the Battle of Mobile Bay on August 5, 1864, he "fought his gun with skill and courage" despite heavy fire. For this action, he was awarded the Medal of Honor four months later, on December 31, 1864.

From the Wikipedia article “James H. Morgan (Medal of Honor)”, 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

William Donaldson Dickey Captain · Army Civil War · 1864 TM Thomas Murphy Corporal · Army Civil War · 1864 LW Lewis S. Wisner First Lieutenant · Army Civil War · 1864 JC James Edwin Cross Corporal · Army Civil War · 1861 TF Thomas S. Flood Boy · Navy Civil War · 1862 Isaac Swartwood Catlin Colonel · 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.