Andrew Brinn

Stayed aboard the doomed Mississippi under fire

Andrew Brinn served as a seaman in the U.S. Navy during the American Civil War. His Medal of Honor recognizes his conduct aboard USS Mississippi at Port Hudson, Louisiana, on 14 March 1863. When the vessel grounded under Confederate fire and her crew began abandoning ship, he remained aboard until ordered to leave.

Brinn was born in 1829. The traditional Medal of Honor record gives Scotland as his birthplace, but research in the Congressional Medal of Honor Society archives identifies Norway in his surviving military records. Those records generally spell his surname Brynn, except for one surviving Mississippi muster roll. He remains listed as Andrew Brinn in the official recipient record.

During the evacuation, Brinn stayed under fire for two and a half hours while the abandoning crew reached safety. Rather than immediately leaving himself, he asked for another duty. He finally withdrew on a direct order to save himself. Mississippi was deliberately set alight to keep the grounded warship out of Confederate hands.

He received his Medal of Honor on 27 June 1864 while serving aboard USS Hollyhock. After his naval service he became an American citizen and worked as a lighthouse keeper at several stations along the Gulf of Mexico. His last posting was Sabine Pass Lighthouse in Louisiana. He died there while on duty on 2 June 1886. His burial place has not been securely identified; the Society's archival account notes that a hurricane later that year destroyed local records.

Medal of Honor citation

Served on board the U.S.S. Mississippi during her abandonment and firing in the engagement at Port Hudson, 14 March 1863. Remaining under enemy fire for 2 and one half hours, Brinn remained on board the grounded vessel until all the abandoning crew had landed. After asking to be assigned some duty, he was finally ordered to save himself and to leave the Mississippi, which had been deliberately fired to prevent her falling into rebel hands.