Edward Ringold

Edward Ringold was a United States Navy sailor during the American Civil War whose courage during the Pocotaligo Expedition in South Carolina earned him the Medal of Honor. At the time of the action for which he was recognized, Ringold was serving as a Coxswain aboard USS Wabash. His highest verified rank for this profile is also Coxswain.

As a Coxswain, Ringold held an experienced enlisted position in the nineteenth-century Navy. Coxswains were trusted sailors who could be responsible for boats, seamanship, and the movement of men and equipment. During wartime expeditions, they could also be assigned to landing parties, gun crews, and shore operations that required sailors to fight away from their ships.

Ringold’s defining Medal of Honor action took place on October 22, 1862, during the Union expedition to Pocotaligo, South Carolina.

The operation formed part of broader Union efforts along the South Carolina coast to disrupt Confederate transportation routes and weaken the infrastructure supporting enemy forces in the region.

Unlike a conventional shipboard engagement, Ringold’s action took him ashore.

He volunteered to serve with the naval howitzer corps, a force that accompanied the expedition inland with light naval artillery.

Naval howitzers were designed to provide mobile fire support during landing operations and shore expeditions.

They could be moved with sailors and supporting crews, making them useful when naval forces had to operate beyond the immediate protection of their ships.

During the fighting, the howitzer detachment began to run short of ammunition.

Without additional ammunition, the gun crew would quickly lose its ability to support the advancing Union force.

Ringold responded to this problem with remarkable initiative.

He moved back approximately two miles to obtain additional fixed ammunition.

He then carried the ammunition back toward the fighting using his own shirt as an improvised means of transport.

This was not simply a supply task performed in safety.

Ringold had to return through an area exposed to enemy fire in order to reach the front.

The ammunition he carried was essential for keeping the howitzer in action.

His conduct therefore combined physical endurance, courage under fire, and a clear understanding of what the detachment needed in order to continue fighting.

Ringold’s heroism was not based on rank or command.

He was an enlisted sailor who recognized an immediate battlefield problem and solved it under dangerous conditions.

That kind of initiative was especially important during amphibious and shore operations, where sailors often had to adapt quickly to circumstances very different from normal shipboard duty.

For his actions at Pocotaligo on October 22, 1862, Edward Ringold was awarded the Medal of Honor.

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

The Navy Medal of Honor had been established during the Civil War as the nation’s highest military decoration for sailors and Marines who demonstrated extraordinary gallantry and distinguished conduct.

Ringold’s award was recorded in General Order No. 17 on July 10, 1863.

This means his action was officially recognized within the following year.

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

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

Ringold’s action rank was Coxswain.

This is also his highest verified rank.

For his final database profile, both Rank and Highest Rank should therefore remain Coxswain.

His combat classification requires an important distinction.

He served in the United States Navy and belonged to a surface-warship environment aboard USS Wabash, so Navy and Surface warfare are appropriate metadata categories.

However, his Medal of Honor action itself was not a shipboard surface-combat action.

He went ashore with a naval howitzer detachment during a land expedition and carried ammunition through enemy fire to support the shore operation.

For that reason, Amphibious is the most accurate Combat Achievement Modifier for his heroic action.

Ringold’s conduct illustrates the flexible role of naval personnel during the Civil War.

Sailors were not always confined to the decks of their vessels.

Naval forces frequently landed parties for reconnaissance, artillery support, raids, destruction of military infrastructure, and combined operations with Army forces.

These missions could expose sailors to the same dangers faced by infantrymen while also requiring them to manage specialized naval equipment such as boat guns and howitzers.

The Pocotaligo operation was one such example.

Union forces moved inland against Confederate resistance, and support from naval artillery helped sustain the advance.

When ammunition became scarce, the ability to keep the howitzer supplied became critical.

Ringold’s decision to return with ammunition allowed the detachment to continue functioning.

His action therefore represents a form of battlefield heroism based on logistics under fire.

A gun without ammunition was useless.

By carrying fixed ammunition back to the fighting, Ringold directly preserved the combat value of the weapon and the detachment operating it.

This makes his Medal of Honor action especially notable because it shows how courage and effectiveness in battle were not limited to direct hand-to-hand combat or the capture of enemy positions.

Sometimes the decisive act was ensuring that the men already fighting still had the means to continue.

Ringold’s medal history must 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.

Ringold died at sea on October 14, 1864, long before the later Navy Civil War Medal could be considered under the project’s rules.

His final verified medal count therefore remains one.

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

Ringold’s later life was tragically short.

He died less than two years after the action that earned him the Medal of Honor.

His body was not recovered, leaving his wartime record as the principal surviving account of his service and sacrifice.

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

Edward Ringold served in the United States Navy.

He was a Coxswain aboard USS Wabash during the Civil War.

On October 22, 1862, during the Pocotaligo Expedition in South Carolina, he volunteered to accompany a naval howitzer detachment ashore.

When the crew’s ammunition supply became dangerously low, he returned approximately two miles, obtained additional fixed ammunition, carried it in his shirt, and brought it back through enemy fire to the front.

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

His award was recorded in General Order No. 17 on July 10, 1863.

No verified device or clasp is associated with the decoration.

Edward Ringold should ultimately be remembered as a sailor whose heroism was defined by courage, initiative, and determination under fire.

His willingness to carry ammunition back to a naval howitzer detachment during a dangerous shore expedition ensured that the weapon could remain in action.

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