Charles Deakin

Charles Deakin — Detailed Biography Charles Deakin, also recorded historically under the spelling Charles Deykin, was a United States Navy Boatswain’s Mate and one of the Union sailors whose courage during the American Civil War earned the Medal of Honor. Born in 1837 in New York City, Deakin later became associated with Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, the state to which his Medal of Honor service was officially accredited. Although comparatively little is documented about his early civilian life, surviving Navy records provide an unusually valuable account of his lengthy naval service and show that his distinguished conduct at Mobile Bay was the culmination of years spent in active wartime operations. Congressional Medal of Honor Society By the time of the Battle of Mobile Bay, Deakin had already accumulated approximately six years of naval service. Earlier in the Civil War he served aboard the steam sloop USS Brooklyn. His service placed him in the Union Navy’s campaign to seize control of the lower Mississippi River and break Confederate control of New Orleans. In April 1862, Brooklyn participated in the operations against Forts Jackson and St. Philip, the powerful Confederate defenses guarding the approaches to New Orleans. Deakin was also present during fighting with Confederate ironclads and gunboats below the city, the action against the Chalmette batteries, and the subsequent surrender of New Orleans. Later in 1862, he remained aboard Brooklyn during the Union attack on Confederate batteries below Vicksburg, Mississippi. These operations meant that long before his Medal of Honor action, Deakin was already an experienced combat sailor who had served under fire in some of the Union Navy’s most important river and coastal campaigns. Wikimedia Commons In September 1863, Deakin joined USS Richmond, another steam sloop serving with Union naval forces. By this stage of his career he held the rating of Boatswain’s Mate, an experienced enlisted position associated with seamanship, deck operations, discipline, and the handling of shipboard work. During battle, however, Deakin had an even more immediately dangerous responsibility: he served as the captain of a gun, responsible for helping direct the operation of one of the ship’s naval guns and maintaining its effectiveness under combat conditions. Wikimedia Commons Deakin’s defining action came on August 5, 1864, during the Battle of Mobile Bay, Alabama. Rear Admiral David G. Farragut’s Union fleet entered the heavily defended bay while confronting Confederate forts, gunboats, underwater mines—then commonly called torpedoes—and the powerful Confederate ironclad ram CSS Tennessee. USS Richmond was part of the Union force fighting its way through this formidable defensive system. Enemy fire struck the ship and caused casualties among her crew as the battle developed at close range. Congressional Medal of Honor Society Throughout the engagement, Boatswain’s Mate Deakin remained at his gun. The surviving Navy record gives an especially revealing detail: Deakin was quite sick during the battle, yet he went to his assigned station and remained there throughout the action. Rather than leaving his quarters because of illness or the increasingly dangerous enemy fire, he continued carrying out his responsibilities as gun captain. Contemporary Navy recognition specifically praised his coolness, good conduct, zeal, and example to others during the morning and forenoon fighting. Wikimedia Commons The later standardized Medal of Honor citation describes how Deakin continued fighting his gun despite damage to USS Richmond and casualties aboard the vessel. For roughly two hours, the Union ships exchanged intense fire with Confederate forces. Deakin operated his weapon effectively while Richmond and the rest of Farragut’s fleet fought against the forts and Confederate vessels. The engagement ultimately ended with the surrender of the Confederate ironclad CSS Tennessee, while Union naval operations also inflicted serious damage on the defenses associated with Fort Morgan. Deakin’s ability to remain at his combat station and continue serving his gun under these conditions became the central basis for his Medal of Honor recognition. Congressional Medal of Honor Society Medal of Honor For his conduct aboard USS Richmond at Mobile Bay, Boatswain’s Mate Charles Deakin was awarded the Medal of Honor, the highest military decoration of the United States. His recognition was recorded under General Order No. 45, dated December 31, 1864. Importantly, the award recognized not merely his presence in the battle but his individual performance as a gun captain—remaining at his post, maintaining his weapon under heavy fire, and demonstrating conspicuous courage and steadiness even while physically ill. His earlier participation at Forts Jackson and St. Philip was also specifically preserved in the official Medal of Honor record. U.S. Army For the VictoriaCross.ca database classification you are using, Deakin’s decoration belongs under Medal of Honor 1862–1912 Navy. He was a U.S. Navy recipient, not an Army recipient, and his Civil War Medal of Honor falls within the historical Navy version represented by that database entry. No additional device, clasp, or service star is required on the Medal of Honor ribbon for the action documented here. Deakin’s award was not posthumous. He survived the Battle of Mobile Bay and lived to receive recognition for his service. Unfortunately, his postwar life was very short. He died in Philadelphia in October 1865, only months after the Civil War ended. Historical records contain a minor one-day discrepancy concerning the exact date: a contemporary death notice records October 4, 1865, while the Congressional Medal of Honor Society currently lists October 5, 1865. In keeping with the project’s zero-assumption rule, the discrepancy should not be silently concealed or converted into a falsely certain date. Congressional Medal of Honor Society Deakin was originally buried at Lafayette Cemetery in Philadelphia. When that cemetery was later closed, its interments were transferred, and his remains are now associated with Rosedale Cemetery in Bensalem, Pennsylvania, where he is recorded among those in a mass grave following the cemetery relocation. Congressional Medal of Honor Society Charles Deakin’s military legacy extends beyond the single morning at Mobile Bay for which he received the Medal of Honor. His documented record traces years of active naval warfare—from the passage of Forts Jackson and St. Philip, the operations surrounding New Orleans, and the fighting below Vicksburg, to his final celebrated combat service aboard USS Richmond. Yet Mobile Bay remains the defining episode of his career. Sick, under heavy fire, and responsible for a naval gun during one of the Civil War’s most important sea battles, Deakin remained at his station and performed his duty with the steadiness expected of a seasoned sailor. His Medal of Honor permanently preserved that conduct as an example of courage and devotion to duty in the United States Navy.