Edward Price (Medal of Honor)

Edward Price was a United States Navy sailor during the American Civil War whose courage and technical skill during the Battle of Mobile Bay earned him the Medal of Honor. At the time of the action for which he was recognized, Price was serving as a Coxswain aboard USS Brooklyn. His highest verified rank for this profile is also Coxswain.

As a Coxswain, Price held an experienced enlisted position aboard ship. Coxswains were trusted sailors who could be responsible for handling boats, directing small crews, and performing demanding seamanship duties. In battle, however, sailors could also be assigned to gun crews and other combat stations depending on the needs of the ship.

Price’s defining action took place on August 5, 1864, during the Battle of Mobile Bay, Alabama.

Mobile Bay was one of the most important remaining Confederate ports on the Gulf Coast. The entrance to the bay was protected by powerful shore defenses, including Fort Morgan and Fort Gaines, as well as mines, which were commonly called torpedoes at the time, and Confederate naval forces.

The Union operation against Mobile Bay was commanded by Rear Admiral David G. Farragut.

The objective was to force the Union fleet past the Confederate defenses, defeat the enemy naval force inside the bay, and isolate the forts controlling the entrance.

USS Brooklyn was one of the major Union warships participating in the attack.

As the fleet moved into the bay, Union ships faced enemy artillery, underwater mines, and Confederate vessels.

The fighting became intense and dangerous.

During the battle, one of the guns aboard USS Brooklyn became disabled when a gun sponge broke and part of it became lodged inside the weapon.

A gun sponge was an important piece of artillery equipment used to clean and cool the interior of a cannon between shots.

If part of the sponge became stuck inside the gun, the weapon could no longer be loaded and fired normally.

In the middle of a naval battle, losing a gun reduced a ship’s firepower and placed additional pressure on the remaining gun crews.

Edward Price responded to this problem with remarkable initiative.

Rather than accepting that the weapon was permanently out of action, he worked to clear the obstruction.

He used powder through the vent of the gun to blast the broken sponge material out of the barrel.

This was a dangerous procedure.

Any work involving gunpowder around a recently fired naval cannon carried serious risk, especially in the confusion, smoke, noise, and movement of combat.

Price succeeded in clearing the obstruction.

The disabled gun was restored to action.

He then continued to man the weapon for the remainder of the battle.

His action combined courage with practical naval gunnery knowledge.

He did not merely remain at his station under enemy fire.

He solved a serious mechanical problem while the battle was still underway and returned an important weapon to service.

For his conduct aboard USS Brooklyn during the Battle of Mobile Bay, Edward Price was awarded the Medal of Honor.

The correct historical decoration for his profile is the Medal of Honor 1862–1912 Navy.

The Navy Medal of Honor had been established during the Civil War to recognize sailors and Marines for extraordinary gallantry and distinguished conduct.

During the war, it became the principal national decoration for enlisted naval personnel who performed exceptional acts under dangerous conditions.

Price’s Medal of Honor was recorded in General Order No. 45, dated December 31, 1864.

This means his action was officially recognized within the same year in which it occurred.

Unlike some Civil War Medal of Honor recipients who waited decades for recognition, Price’s award followed only a few months after the Battle of Mobile Bay.

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

His final verified medal rack should therefore display the Medal of Honor 1862–1912 Navy without any additional device.

Price’s action also explains the correct combat classification for his profile.

He served aboard a surface warship and earned the Medal of Honor during direct shipboard naval combat.

For that reason, Navy and Surface warfare are the correct metadata categories.

His Combat Achievement Modifier should be Surface Naval.

Although his act involved a cannon, the action should not be classified as land artillery because the weapon was part of a naval gun battery aboard USS Brooklyn.

The Battle of Mobile Bay became one of the most important Union naval victories of the Civil War.

The Union fleet successfully entered the bay despite the formidable defenses.

The Confederate ironclad CSS Tennessee was eventually defeated and captured, while the forts protecting the entrance were isolated and later surrendered.

The victory effectively closed Mobile Bay to major Confederate blockade-running operations.

It also strengthened Union control of the Gulf Coast.

Price’s action occurred during this strategically important battle.

By restoring one of USS Brooklyn’s disabled guns to service, he helped maintain the ship’s combat effectiveness at a critical moment.

Naval warfare during the Civil War depended heavily on the ability of gun crews to keep their weapons operating.

Cannons required disciplined teams, careful loading procedures, and constant maintenance.

A problem with a sponge, rammer, vent, carriage, or ammunition supply could remove a gun from action.

Sailors therefore needed both physical courage and technical competence.

Price demonstrated both.

He recognized the problem, found a workable solution, cleared the obstruction, and returned the gun to action.

His conduct is especially notable because he continued manning the weapon afterward.

This shows that his contribution did not end once the immediate mechanical problem was solved.

He remained at his combat station while the battle continued.

Price’s medal history should remain limited to recipient-specific verified awards.

The Medal of Honor 1862–1912 Navy is his confirmed decoration.

A later Navy Civil War Medal should not be included in his verified rack.

His date of death has not been securely established in the available verified record for this profile, so survival to the later eligibility period cannot be confirmed.

More importantly, the current research standard requires recipient-specific entitlement rather than assumption based only on Civil War service.

His final verified medal count therefore remains one.

That one decoration represents the highest military honor of the United States.

Price’s Medal of Honor preserved a very specific example of naval courage: the restoration of a disabled gun in the middle of battle.

His action demonstrated that heroism at sea could take many forms.

It did not always involve commanding a ship, leading a boarding party, or saving men from the water.

Sometimes it involved the determination to keep a weapon functioning while enemy fire continued around the crew.

For his final hero profile, the essential facts are clear.

Edward Price served in the United States Navy.

He held the rank of Coxswain aboard USS Brooklyn during the Battle of Mobile Bay on August 5, 1864.

When a gun sponge broke and became lodged inside one of the ship’s guns, he used powder through the vent to remove the obstruction.

He successfully restored the weapon to operation and continued manning it through the battle.

For this action, he received the Medal of Honor 1862–1912 Navy.

The award was recorded in General Order No. 45 on December 31, 1864.

No verified device or clasp is associated with the decoration.

Edward Price should ultimately be remembered as a sailor whose courage was expressed through skill, initiative, and determination under fire.

His action aboard USS Brooklyn helped preserve the ship’s firepower during one of the most significant naval battles of the Civil War.

The Medal of Honor 1862–1912 Navy remains the defining symbol of his service and preserves Edward Price’s place among the recognized heroes of the United States Navy.