George Province

George Province was a United States Navy sailor and Medal of Honor recipient whose Civil War service became permanently associated with the capture of Fort Fisher, North Carolina, one of the final major combined Army-Navy victories of the war. Born in Newport, Rhode Island, in 1842, Province entered naval service during the American Civil War and was credited to Boston, Massachusetts. His verified Navy rating was Ordinary Seaman, and the vessel most closely connected with his Medal of Honor service was USS Santiago de Cuba. USS Santiago de Cuba was a wooden, brigantine-rigged side-wheel steamer built in Brooklyn, New York, in 1861 and purchased by the United States Navy during the opening months of the Civil War. Commissioned in November 1861, the ship initially operated in waters connected with the Union blockade. Its duties included suppressing Confederate maritime commerce, pursuing blockade runners, supporting coastal military operations, and enforcing Union control over important sea routes. The ship accumulated a substantial record during the conflict. Santiago de Cuba captured or intercepted vessels attempting to conduct trade through the Union blockade and later became closely involved in operations against Wilmington, North Carolina. By the final months of the war, Wilmington had become strategically vital to the Confederacy because it remained one of the most important ports through which blockade runners could deliver supplies from overseas. Protecting the approaches to Wilmington was Fort Fisher, a massive Confederate fortification positioned near the mouth of the Cape Fear River. Its earth-and-sand construction made it unusually resistant to naval bombardment, while its artillery protected access to the river and the supply routes leading inland. As other Confederate ports were closed or captured, Fort Fisher and Wilmington became increasingly important to the survival of Confederate logistics. The Union first mounted a major expedition against Fort Fisher in December 1864. Rear Admiral David D. Porter commanded the naval force, which included USS Santiago de Cuba, while Major General Benjamin F. Butler led the Army contingent. The fleet subjected the Confederate position to a tremendous bombardment, and Santiago de Cuba supported the landing of Union troops ashore. During that first expedition, the ship helped protect troops as they landed and supported operations against Confederate positions near the fort. Despite the strength of the naval bombardment, however, the Army commander concluded that the fort could not be successfully assaulted under the existing circumstances and ordered the troops to withdraw. The expedition therefore ended without capturing Fort Fisher. The failure did not end Union efforts against the fortress. Admiral Porter immediately prepared for another attack, and a new Army expedition was organized under Major General Alfred H. Terry. The second operation was conducted with much closer cooperation between the Army and Navy. The combined force returned to the Cape Fear region in January 1865. USS Santiago de Cuba again formed part of Porter’s powerful fleet. On January 13 and 14, Union warships began a sustained bombardment against Fort Fisher. The naval force attempted to suppress Confederate artillery, damage defensive positions, and create conditions under which Terry’s soldiers could make a successful land assault. Santiago de Cuba occupied an active place in these operations. The ship helped guide one of the naval battle lines into position and participated in the bombardment. While the warships fired from offshore, Army troops landed north of the fort and established positions designed to isolate the Confederate garrison from reinforcements. January 15, 1865, became the decisive day of the operation. Terry’s Army force prepared to assault the fort’s landward defenses while Porter organized a large force of sailors and Marines to attack from the seaward side. The naval landing force was composed of men drawn from numerous ships in the fleet. George Province was among the sailors from USS Santiago de Cuba who went ashore. Although his regular rating was Ordinary Seaman, his Medal of Honor action would take him far from the normal environment of a ship’s deck. Province became one of a boat crew detailed for duty with General Terry’s forces ashore. During the height of the fighting, he accompanied his party while carrying dispatches through the battlefield. Communications were critical during a combined assault of this kind. Orders, reports, and information had to move between commanders and units while the battle was unfolding, and the men carrying those messages could be exposed to enemy fire as they crossed contested ground. The naval assault against Fort Fisher was extremely severe. Large numbers of sailors and Marines advanced toward the fort from the beach, while Confederate troops fired from defensive positions. The main naval assault was eventually repulsed with substantial losses. Many of the attacking sailors were forced back from the fortifications. Province’s party distinguished itself amid this confusion. His official Medal of Honor record states that he bravely entered Fort Fisher during the assault and accompanied his party while carrying dispatches at the height of the battle. He was identified as one of six men who entered the fort in the assault from the fleet. This detail makes his Medal of Honor action especially significant. Province was not decorated merely for being present in the landing force. His recognition was connected with his direct movement into the fort during the assault and his continued service carrying important communications while the battle remained active. The larger Army assault proved successful. Union troops penetrated Fort Fisher’s landward defenses and fought through the fortification position by position. After prolonged and intense combat, Confederate resistance collapsed and the fort was captured on January 15, 1865. The fall of Fort Fisher had major strategic consequences. With the fortress in Union hands, the Confederacy could no longer effectively protect the principal sea approaches to Wilmington. The loss severely reduced the ability of blockade runners to bring foreign supplies into the region. Wilmington itself fell to Union forces the following month. For George Province and his shipmates, the operation did not end immediately after the fort was taken. On January 16, USS Santiago de Cuba embarked wounded men from the fighting and sailed north toward Norfolk. The ship therefore participated not only in the bombardment and assault but also in the evacuation of casualties after the victory. Province’s conduct at Fort Fisher was formally recognized only a few months later. On June 22, 1865, the United States Navy issued General Order No. 59, which included George Province among the sailors recognized with the Medal of Honor. The Medal of Honor was still a relatively new decoration at the time. Congress had authorized the Navy Medal of Honor in December 1861 during the first year of the Civil War. It was created to recognize enlisted sailors and Marines who distinguished themselves through exceptional courage and conduct. Province’s award belongs directly to this original Civil War-era Navy Medal of Honor system. His heroic action occurred on January 15, 1865, and the formal General Order recognizing him was issued on June 22 of the same year. For the project database, his verified decoration is therefore correctly represented as Medal of Honor 1862–1912 Navy — 1865. No additional star, clasp, bar, or other device has been verified for George Province’s Medal of Honor. His decoration should therefore remain a single plain Medal of Honor in the verified ribbon rack. The later Navy Civil War Campaign Medal should not presently be added to Province’s medal record. That medal was created decades after the Civil War, and the project requires more than proof that an individual served during the qualifying period. Province’s authoritative death date has not been securely established, so it cannot currently be confirmed that he survived into the period required by the project’s Navy Civil War Medal rule. More importantly, no recipient-specific issuance record, medal roll, or equivalent authoritative documentation has been verified showing that Province personally received that campaign medal. It therefore remains HOLD rather than part of his final verified rack. USS Santiago de Cuba continued in service through the closing months of the Civil War. After the Confederacy collapsed, the ship was decommissioned in June 1865 and later sold out of naval service. Its wartime history included blockade operations, captures of blockade runners, support of coastal campaigns, and participation in the decisive attacks on Fort Fisher. Far less authoritative information survives about George Province’s later civilian life. Even his exact death date and burial location have not been securely established in the strongest surviving records. Under a strict historical standard, those gaps should remain acknowledged rather than being filled with uncertain information from secondary genealogy sources. What is firmly documented is the part of his life that placed him in American military history. George Province was an Ordinary Seaman of the United States Navy, serving with USS Santiago de Cuba during the final stages of the Civil War. On January 15, 1865, during the violent combined assault on Fort Fisher, he went ashore with a boat crew detailed to General Terry, entered the fort during the fighting, and accompanied his party while carrying dispatches at the height of the battle. For that conduct, George Province received the Medal of Honor under General Order No. 59 on June 22, 1865. His final verified medal record remains Medal of Honor 1862–1912 Navy — 1865, with no verified additional device or clasp.