Daniel Griffin George

Daniel Griffin George was born on July 7, 1840, in Plaistow, New Hampshire. His Civil War career was unusual because he served in both the United States Army and the United States Navy, experienced Confederate captivity more than once, escaped imprisonment during his Army service, later volunteered for one of the most dangerous naval operations of the war, and ultimately received the Medal of Honor.

George went to sea while still young and gained practical maritime experience before the Civil War. When the conflict began, however, he initially entered military service with the Army rather than the Navy. He enlisted in Company D, 1st Massachusetts Cavalry, beginning his wartime career as a mounted soldier.

His Army service exposed him to combat and eventually to Confederate captivity. During fighting in 1863, George was captured and passed through Confederate prison facilities associated with the Richmond area. His wartime experience became particularly remarkable when he succeeded in escaping from captivity and ultimately returned to Union-controlled territory.

After returning to military service, George eventually moved from the Army into the United States Navy. His previous seafaring experience made naval duty a natural second phase of his wartime career. During this transition he became associated with the name William Smith, an alias under which part of his naval service was recorded. This is important when reviewing historical documents because records relating to “William Smith” can refer to Daniel Griffin George.

By 1864, George was serving in the Navy as an Ordinary Seaman. His Medal of Honor action would take place in connection with one of the most daring naval attacks of the American Civil War.

The target was the Confederate ironclad CSS Albemarle.

The Albemarle had become a serious threat to Union naval operations in eastern North Carolina. Its armor and heavy armament made it difficult for conventional Union warships to destroy, and its presence on the Roanoke River strengthened Confederate control around Plymouth, North Carolina.

Lieutenant William Barker Cushing developed a bold plan to destroy the ironclad using a small steam picket boat equipped with a spar torpedo. The weapon consisted of an explosive charge mounted on a long projecting spar and required the attacking boat to approach extremely close to the enemy vessel.

The mission was exceptionally dangerous because the small wooden picket boat would have to penetrate Confederate defenses, approach an armored warship at close range, and operate while exposed to enemy fire.

Daniel Griffin George volunteered for the mission.

At the time of the operation, his correct rank was Ordinary Seaman.

On the night of October 27, 1864, George joined Cushing and the other volunteers aboard U.S. Picket Boat No. 1 as they moved toward Plymouth and CSS Albemarle.

The crew initially attempted to approach without attracting attention, but Confederate defenders eventually detected the small craft and opened fire.

The Albemarle was protected by a barrier of floating logs designed to keep hostile boats and torpedoes away from its hull. Despite this obstacle and the fire directed at them, Cushing and his crew continued toward the ironclad.

George remained with the crew during the final approach and participated in the attack as the picket boat forced its way across the defensive obstruction.

The spar torpedo was maneuvered beneath the Albemarle’s port side and detonated at extremely close range.

The explosion tore open the Confederate ironclad and caused the Albemarle to sink into the river mud.

The destruction of CSS Albemarle was one of the most celebrated small-boat operations of the Civil War. A powerful armored vessel that had posed a major threat to Union operations had been neutralized by a small volunteer crew operating under extremely dangerous conditions.

The attack also left Cushing’s picket boat disabled.

The members of the crew were scattered, killed, captured, or forced to attempt escape through the water and surrounding territory.

George survived the attack but was captured by Confederate forces.

This became another period of imprisonment during his military career.

He was eventually held at Salisbury Prison in North Carolina and remained in Confederate hands until near the end of the war.

The mission for which he later received the Medal of Honor therefore carried an enormous personal cost. He survived the destruction of the attacking boat, only to spend months as a prisoner of war.

The loss of CSS Albemarle had important consequences for Union operations in eastern North Carolina. With the ironclad removed, Confederate naval power in the region was significantly weakened, and Union forces gained greater freedom to operate around Plymouth and along the Roanoke River.

For his role in the operation, Daniel Griffin George received the Medal of Honor.

His verified Medal of Honor action details are clear: he served in the United States Navy as an Ordinary Seaman, participated in the attack aboard U.S. Picket Boat No. 1, and performed his heroic service near Plymouth, North Carolina, on October 27, 1864.

George and other members of the crew were recognized under General Orders No. 45, dated December 31, 1864.

Accordingly, the correct decoration for his profile is Medal of Honor 1862–1912 Navy — awarded in 1864.

No verified clasp, star, bar, or other device is associated with his Medal of Honor.

His Medal of Honor therefore stands alone in the final verified medal rack.

This distinction is especially important because George’s surviving record also shows extensive Civil War service in both the Army and Navy.

However, qualifying wartime service does not by itself prove recipient-specific entitlement to a later Civil War campaign medal.

Although George survived until 1916 and therefore lived beyond the establishment of both Army and Navy Civil War campaign medals, no sufficiently verified recipient-specific issuance evidence has been established for either campaign medal under the current research standard.

For that reason, neither the Army Civil War Campaign Medal nor the Navy Civil War Campaign Medal should be included in his final verified medal rack.

His final verified medal count is therefore one: the Medal of Honor 1862–1912 Navy.

After his release from Confederate captivity, George returned to naval service and again became associated with USS Chicopee.

His later Navy service brought him to the rating of Coxswain.

This creates an important rank distinction for his final profile.

At the time of his Medal of Honor action, he was an Ordinary Seaman.

His highest verified later Navy rating was Coxswain.

Therefore, the database should record Rank at Action as Ordinary Seaman and Highest Rank as Coxswain.

George’s military career is also notable because it crossed service branches.

He began the war as a cavalry soldier in the United States Army and later served as a sailor in the United States Navy.

His Medal of Honor, however, belongs specifically to his Navy service and the Albemarle operation.

His wartime history also includes the extraordinary experience of Confederate imprisonment and escape.

He had already endured captivity during his Army service before volunteering for the Albemarle mission.

Following the naval attack, he was captured again and spent another period as a prisoner.

Few Medal of Honor recipients combined cavalry service, naval service, escape from captivity, participation in a major covert-style naval assault, and subsequent imprisonment in the way George did.

His Medal of Honor action is best classified as surface naval combat.

Although the attack did not resemble a conventional battle between large warships, George was a Navy sailor aboard a small combat vessel making a direct attack against an enemy ironclad.

The operation took place on an inland river, but it remained fundamentally a naval engagement.

For that reason, Surface Naval is a more historically appropriate combat classification than applying a modern Special Operations category.

George survived the Civil War and lived for more than half a century after the destruction of CSS Albemarle.

He died on February 26, 1916, in Amesbury, Massachusetts, at the age of seventy-five.

He was buried in Locust Grove Cemetery in Merrimac, Massachusetts.

Daniel Griffin George’s military story remains exceptional even among Civil War Medal of Honor recipients.

He began his service as a Union cavalryman, experienced Confederate captivity, escaped and returned to Union service, transferred into the Navy, served for a period under the name William Smith, volunteered for the dangerous mission against CSS Albemarle, survived the destruction of the attacking boat, was captured again, endured imprisonment, and later returned to naval service.

At the center of his story remains the night of October 27, 1864.

Ordinary Seaman Daniel Griffin George entered the Roanoke River aboard U.S. Picket Boat No. 1 with Lieutenant William Barker Cushing and a small group of volunteers.

Their target was a Confederate ironclad that had proven extremely difficult to defeat.

Despite defensive barriers and enemy fire, the crew reached the Albemarle and successfully detonated a spar torpedo against the vessel.

That action earned George the Medal of Honor 1862–1912 Navy, awarded in 1864.

He later attained the rating of Coxswain and lived until 1916.

His final verified profile therefore records Daniel Griffin George as a former U.S. Army cavalryman, a United States Navy sailor, a prisoner of war and escapee, a participant in the destruction of CSS Albemarle, and a Medal of Honor recipient whose courage helped produce one of the most remarkable naval victories of the American Civil War.