Henry Dow

His Gunboat Was Sinking—He Kept Fighting

Henry Dow was born in Scotland in 1840. Like many immigrants of his generation, he eventually came to the United States, and during the American Civil War he entered service in the United States Navy. His enlistment was credited to Illinois. By 1863, Dow had become an experienced enlisted sailor holding the rating of Boatswain’s Mate aboard USS Cincinnati, one of the Union Navy’s armored gunboats operating on the Mississippi River.

The rating of Boatswain’s Mate carried significant responsibility in the nineteenth-century Navy. A Boatswain’s Mate was an experienced sailor expected to understand seamanship, rigging, deck operations, boats, anchors, lines, and the organization of working parties. During combat, men holding this rating were also expected to help maintain discipline and ensure that essential shipboard duties continued despite casualties, confusion, and enemy fire.

USS Cincinnati was a City-class ironclad gunboat built for operations along the western rivers. These vessels combined steam propulsion, heavy artillery, and armored protection, allowing them to support Union armies moving through the Mississippi Valley. River gunboats became essential to Federal strategy because control of waterways could disrupt Confederate communications, protect troop movements, and directly support attacks against fortified positions.

Cincinnati had already developed a dramatic combat history before the action that would define Dow’s career. The gunboat had participated in important operations along the western rivers and had previously been sunk during fighting near Fort Pillow in 1862. It was later raised, repaired, and returned to active service.

By 1863, the Union campaign against Vicksburg, Mississippi, had become one of the most important military operations of the Civil War. Vicksburg stood on commanding bluffs above the Mississippi River and represented a major obstacle to complete Union control of that strategic waterway.

Major General Ulysses S. Grant’s army had crossed into Mississippi, fought its way toward the city, and eventually surrounded the Confederate defenses. Naval forces under Rear Admiral David D. Porter worked closely with the Army, bombarding Confederate positions, transporting supplies, and providing fire support wherever the river allowed.

By late May, Union troops were pressing against the northern defenses of Vicksburg. Confederate artillery positions overlooking the Mississippi continued to threaten Federal troops and vessels operating below the bluffs.

On May 27, 1863, USS Cincinnati received orders to move against Confederate batteries that were interfering with Union operations near the northern end of the siege lines.

Lieutenant George Mifflin Bache commanded the gunboat.

The mission was extraordinarily dangerous.

Vicksburg’s Confederate artillery occupied elevated positions overlooking the river. The height of the bluffs gave the defenders a major advantage because plunging artillery fire could strike the decks and less-protected upper portions of attacking gunboats.

Cincinnati nevertheless moved downstream toward the enemy position.

The crew prepared for battle. Guns were positioned for the coming engagement, and additional protective materials were placed around vulnerable areas of the vessel. Every sailor aboard understood that the Confederate batteries could bring concentrated fire onto the river.

Henry Dow was at his station as Boatswain’s Mate when the attack began.

As Cincinnati approached its objective, Confederate artillery opened fire.

The accuracy was devastating.

Shells and solid shot began striking the gunboat repeatedly. Heavy projectiles penetrated its defenses and tore through sections of the vessel. The crew found themselves exposed to an intense and sustained bombardment from artillery positioned high above them.

Dow remained at his duties.

The official record later singled him out for his extraordinary coolness and bravery under this severe fire.

The Confederate batteries continued finding their target.

One projectile penetrated Cincinnati and contributed to flooding below the waterline. Other shots damaged vital sections of the ship. The steering system was struck, making maneuvering increasingly difficult.

The situation deteriorated rapidly.

Despite the punishment, Cincinnati continued firing.

The gun crews remained at their weapons while the vessel absorbed hit after hit. Smoke from the guns and exploding shells covered the ship as sailors struggled to keep the ironclad in action.

Dow continued performing his responsibilities as the Confederate fire became increasingly destructive.

This was precisely the type of situation in which discipline mattered most. When a warship began suffering severe damage, panic could be as dangerous as enemy fire. Sailors had to continue obeying orders, moving ammunition, handling lines, assisting wounded men, and operating the ship even when it became obvious that the vessel might not survive.

Dow did not abandon his post.

The Confederate fire eventually damaged Cincinnati so badly that Lieutenant Bache realized the ship could no longer remain in the engagement. Water was entering through multiple openings, and the gunboat was in serious danger of sinking.

Bache attempted to move Cincinnati back upriver and beach the vessel before it went down.

The ship struggled toward the riverbank while Confederate artillery continued firing.

The crew attempted to secure Cincinnati near shore so the men could escape, but the situation remained chaotic. The badly damaged gunboat could no longer be controlled normally, and the river itself complicated evacuation.

Cincinnati ultimately slipped away from the bank and sank in the Mississippi.

The vessel went down while still displaying its colors, creating one of the enduring images associated with the Vicksburg naval campaign.

Throughout the action, Henry Dow had remained conspicuous for his calmness and courage.

His conduct impressed his officers because it went beyond what they considered the ordinary performance of duty.

The official Navy record specifically described Dow and several of his shipmates as men whose actions under the exceptionally accurate Confederate fire were no ordinary examples of simply doing their jobs.

That judgment is important to understanding why Dow received the Medal of Honor.

His heroism was not defined by a single isolated movement lasting only a few seconds. He demonstrated sustained courage throughout a naval engagement in which his ship was being methodically destroyed around him.

Every new Confederate hit increased the danger.

The vessel was flooding.

Steering became difficult.

Men were being wounded and killed.

The ship’s survival became increasingly unlikely.

Yet Dow continued performing his duty until the fight was effectively over and Cincinnati was lost.

The sinking of Cincinnati became one of the notable naval episodes of the Siege of Vicksburg. Confederate artillery had succeeded in destroying a Federal ironclad directly beneath the city’s defenses, demonstrating that even armored river gunboats remained vulnerable to carefully positioned heavy guns.

For the Union sailors aboard Cincinnati, the loss of the ship represented both defeat and extraordinary endurance. Although the vessel had been overwhelmed by shore batteries, its crew continued fighting under conditions severe enough to attract immediate official recognition.

Dow’s bravery was recognized remarkably quickly.

On July 10, 1863, only about six weeks after the battle, the Navy formally recognized Henry Dow through General Order No. 17.

He received the Medal of Honor.

The timing placed his award among the earliest Civil War presentations of the decoration.

The Navy Medal of Honor had been authorized by Congress on December 21, 1861. It was the first version of what would become the highest military decoration of the United States. During the Civil War it was used primarily to recognize enlisted sailors and Marines who demonstrated exceptional gallantry, courage, and devotion to duty.

The American military of the 1860s did not yet possess the extensive system of valor awards developed in later generations. Decorations such as the Navy Cross and Silver Star did not exist in their later forms.

For enlisted sailors such as Dow, the Medal of Honor therefore represented the nation’s principal official recognition for extraordinary courage.

His verified decoration is recorded as Medal of Honor 1862–1912 Navy — 1863.

The action itself occurred on May 27, 1863.

The formal recognition came through General Order No. 17 on July 10, 1863.

Dow received one Medal of Honor.

No additional star, clasp, bar, or other device has been verified with the decoration.

His final verified medal record therefore remains Medal of Honor 1862–1912 Navy — 1863 — no device or clasp.

Dow’s Medal of Honor citation permanently tied his name to USS Cincinnati and the Vicksburg batteries. It recalled a sailor who continued carrying out his responsibilities while enemy artillery struck the ship again and again and while the vessel’s destruction became inevitable.

The phrase “coolness and bravery” is particularly appropriate to his achievement.

Naval combat demanded more than physical courage. A sailor could be surrounded by exploding shells, damaged machinery, wounded shipmates, fire, flooding, and shouted orders. Under those conditions, remaining calm enough to perform specialized duties could determine whether others survived and whether the ship continued fighting.

As Boatswain’s Mate, Dow represented precisely that kind of experienced enlisted leadership.

The sinking did not mark the end of USS Cincinnati’s own story. The ironclad was later raised from the Mississippi, repaired once again, and returned to service. The ship that Confederate artillery had sent beneath the water at Vicksburg would eventually rejoin the Union fleet.

For Henry Dow, however, May 27, 1863 remained the defining event preserved in the historical record.

Reliable surviving sources provide very little information about his civilian life after military service. His birth in Scotland, his Illinois accreditation, his Navy rating, his service aboard Cincinnati, and his Medal of Honor action are securely preserved, but authoritative records do not establish a reliable later biography or confirmed date of death.

Rather than filling those gaps with speculation, his documented legacy remains centered on what the Navy itself recorded.

Henry Dow was a Scottish-born American sailor.

He served the United States Navy as a Boatswain’s Mate.

He was aboard USS Cincinnati during the attack on the Confederate batteries at Vicksburg on May 27, 1863.

When the enemy’s artillery fire began striking the gunboat with devastating accuracy, Dow remained at his duty.

When the ship was repeatedly penetrated, he remained steady.

When it became clear that Cincinnati could not survive, he continued doing his job.

And when the ironclad finally sank beneath the Mississippi, his conduct had been so conspicuously courageous that his officers specifically declared it to be far beyond an ordinary performance of duty.

On July 10, 1863, the United States formally honored that courage with his single verified decoration: Medal of Honor 1862–1912 Navy — 1863 — no device or clasp.

Henry Dow’s story is ultimately not about escaping a sinking ship.

It is about what he did before escape became necessary.

While Confederate shells tore through USS Cincinnati and the gunboat slowly lost its battle to stay afloat, Boatswain’s Mate Henry Dow kept performing his duty until there was no ship left to save.