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Honoring American TroopsMedal of Honor Archive

Coxswain · U.S. Navy

Lebbeus Simkins

Coxswain Lebbeus Simkins, 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

Coxswain Lebbeus Simkins 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. Simkins was about 28 years old.

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

Simkins was born in 1836 in Utica, Oneida County, New York. His Medal of Honor is credited to New York. Simkins died on September 10, 1884 in Sacramento, California, at the age of about 48. He is buried at I.O.O.F. Tier in City Cemetery, California. Records also list him as Simpkins, Lebbeus.

Simkins 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

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, Simkins performed his duties 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.

Timeline

  1. 1836
    Born in Utica, Oneida County, New York
  2. August 5, 1864
    Act of valor — Mobile Bay, Alabama
    Age about 28. U.S.S. Richmond
  3. September 10, 1884
    Died in Sacramento, California
    Age about 48.
  4. Resting place
    I.O.O.F. Tier
    City Cemetery, California

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

Henry Edwin Tremain Major & Aide-de-Camp · Army Civil War · 1864 ET Eugene M. Tinkham Corporal · Army Civil War · 1864 RS Richard Stout Landsman · Navy Civil War · 1863 Horatio Collins King Major & Quartermaster · Army Civil War · 1865 WB William P. Brownell Coxswain · Navy Civil War · 1863 ED Edward Edwin Dodds Sergeant · Army Civil War · 1864
Sources. Service and award details compiled from the recipient record of the Congressional Medal of Honor Society. The narrative summary is generated from these records. Spotted an error? Send a correction.