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Coxswain · U.S. Navy

Thomas Taylor

Coxswain Thomas Taylor, 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 Thomas Taylor 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. Metacomet. Taylor was about 30 years old.

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

Taylor was born in 1834 in Bangor, Penobscot County, Maine. His Medal of Honor is credited to Maine. Taylor died on January 19, 1884 in Brooklyn, New York, at the age of about 50. He is buried at Cypress Hills Cemetery in Brooklyn, New York. Records also list him as George Thomas Taylor.

Taylor is one of 1,525 Medal of Honor recipients from the Civil War and one of 66 credited to Maine.

Official Medal of Honor citation

Served on board the U.S.S. Metacomet during the action against rebel forts and gunboats and with the rebel 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, Taylor encouraged the men of the forward pivot gun when the officer in command displayed cowardice, doing honor to the occasion.

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

Battles and campaigns

Also served in: American Civil War.

Places

  • Born: Bangor — map

Veteran resources, cemeteries and meeting places in Maine →

Timeline

  1. 1834
    Born in Bangor, Penobscot County, Maine
  2. August 5, 1864
    Act of valor — Mobile Bay, Alabama
    Age about 30. U.S.S. Metacomet
  3. January 19, 1884
    Died in Brooklyn, New York
    Age about 50.
  4. Resting place
    Cypress Hills Cemetery
    Brooklyn, New York

Biography

Thomas Taylor (born c. 1834, 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. Born in about 1834 in Bangor, Maine, Taylor was still living in that city when he joined the Navy. He served during the Civil War as a coxswain on the USS Metacomet. At the Battle of Mobile Bay on August 5, 1864, he "encouraged the men of the forward pivot gun when the officer in command displayed cowardice". For this action, he was awarded the Medal of Honor a year later on June 22, 1865. Taylor's official Medal of Honor citation reads: Served on board the U.S.S.

From the Wikipedia article “Thomas Taylor (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 →

More Civil War recipients from Maine

Francis Snow Hesseltine Lieutenant Colonel · Army Civil War · 1863 Henry Clay Wood First Lieutenant · Army Civil War · 1861 ST Sidney Warren Thaxter Major · Army Civil War · 1864 FH Frank W. Haskell Sergeant Major · Army Civil War · 1862 JC John Chapman Private · Army Civil War · 1865 OT Othniel Tripp Chief Boatswain's Mate · 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.