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Yeoman · U.S. Navy

Thomas E. Atkinson

Yeoman Thomas E. Atkinson, 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

Serving as a sailor in the U.S. Navy, Yeoman Thomas E. Atkinson 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. Atkinson was about 40 years old.

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

Atkinson was born in 1824 in Salem, Essex County, Massachusetts. His Medal of Honor is credited to Massachusetts. Atkinson died on March 9, 1868 in at sea on board U.S.S. Dacotah, at the age of about 44. He is buried at San Lorenzo Island in Peru.

Atkinson is one of 1,525 Medal of Honor recipients from the Civil War and one of 265 credited to Massachusetts.

Official Medal of Honor citation

On board the U.S.S. Richmond, Mobile Bay, 5 August 1864; commended for coolness and energy in supplying the rifle ammunition which was under his sole charge, in the action in Mobile Bay on the morning of 5 August 1864. He was a petty officer on board the U.S. Frigate Congress in 1842[-46; was present and assisted in the capture the whole of the Buenos Ayrean fleet by that vessel off Montevideo; joined the Richmond in September 1860; was in the action with Fort McRea, the Head of the Passes of the Mississippi, Fort Jackson and St. Philip, the Chalmettes, the rebel ironclads and gunboats below New Orleans, Vicksburg, Port Hudson, and the surrender of New Orleans.

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

Battles and campaigns

Also served in: American Civil War.

Places

  • Born: Salem — map

Veteran resources, cemeteries and meeting places in Massachusetts →

Timeline

  1. 1824
    Born in Salem, Essex County, Massachusetts
  2. August 5, 1864
    Act of valor — Mobile Bay, Alabama
    Age about 40. U.S.S. Richmond
  3. March 9, 1868
    Died in at sea on board U.S.S. Dacotah
    Age about 44.
  4. Resting place
    San Lorenzo Island

Biography

Thomas E. Atkinson (born c. 1824, date of death unknown) 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 “Thomas E. Atkinson”, licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0. Read the full article →

Also honored for actions on August 5, 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 JC James B. Chandler Coxswain · 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 Massachusetts

HT Henry Thielberg Seaman · Navy Civil War · 1863 Edmund Rice Major · Army Civil War · 1863 MS Martin Schwenk Sergeant · Army Civil War · 1863 JH John Hayes Coxswain · Navy Civil War · 1864 William Harvey Carney Sergeant · Army Civil War · 1863 JG John Griffiths Captain of the Forecastle · Navy Civil War · 1865
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.