Henry S. Webster

Henry S. Webster was born on January 7, 1845, in Stockholm, St. Lawrence County, New York. His surviving authoritative military records preserve his name as Henry S. Webster, but the full form of his middle initial has not been reliably established and should therefore not be expanded. During the American Civil War, he entered the United States Navy, with his service credited to Brooklyn, New York.

Webster served at the rating of Landsman, an enlisted naval classification commonly assigned to men who had entered the Navy without extensive previous seafaring experience. Landsmen performed many of the demanding duties required aboard a warship and could also be selected for operations ashore when sailors were organized into naval landing parties.

He was assigned to USS Susquehanna, a large steam-powered warship that served with the Union Navy. During the latter period of the Civil War, Susquehanna operated with the North Atlantic Blockading Squadron, the naval force responsible for maintaining pressure against Confederate ports and supporting military operations along the Atlantic coast.

By late 1864 and early 1865, one of the Union's most important objectives was Fort Fisher, North Carolina. The massive Confederate fortification protected the approaches to Wilmington, which had become the Confederacy's last major Atlantic port open to blockade-running traffic.

Wilmington was strategically important because blockade runners could bring military supplies and other goods into the Confederacy through the Cape Fear River. As other Confederate ports were captured or effectively closed, the destruction of Fort Fisher became increasingly important to the Union blockade.

An initial Union operation against Fort Fisher in December 1864 failed to capture the position. The Federal government quickly organized another attack, combining a powerful naval force under Rear Admiral David D. Porter with Army troops under Major General Alfred H. Terry.

USS Susquehanna participated in the naval operations connected with the campaign. Union warships subjected the Confederate defenses to an enormous bombardment designed to weaken the fort and support the troops who would assault it from land.

The second major assault took place on January 15, 1865. Union Army forces attacked the fort from the landward side while a separate assaulting force composed of sailors and Marines moved against another portion of the defenses.

Henry S. Webster was among the sailors who went ashore as part of the naval landing force.

For a Landsman normally serving aboard a warship, participation in such an assault represented a dramatic change in the nature of combat. Instead of working behind the guns and protection of a naval vessel, Webster and the other sailors had to cross exposed ground on foot while facing direct Confederate rifle and artillery fire.

The naval assault encountered devastating resistance.

As Webster's landing party attempted to advance toward Fort Fisher, Confederate fire became so severe that the attack was halted. Officers and enlisted men were struck down, and the assaulting formation began to disintegrate.

More than two-thirds of the men in Webster's landing party eventually fell back along the exposed beach.

In these circumstances, Webster had an obvious opportunity to retreat with the majority of the surviving sailors. Remaining forward meant continuing to face enemy fire while much of the attacking force was already withdrawing.

Webster chose to remain.

One of his officers had been wounded and could not safely reach the rear without assistance. Rather than abandoning the injured man, Webster voluntarily stayed beside him on the battlefield while still exposed to Confederate fire.

He remained with the wounded officer until assistance could be obtained to carry him away from the dangerous position and bring him to the rear.

The action demonstrated a particularly selfless form of battlefield courage. Webster's achievement did not involve capturing a flag, operating a gun after others had been killed, or leading an assault. His distinction came from refusing to leave a wounded officer behind even when the attack around him had collapsed.

The danger was especially serious because the landing force was retreating across open ground. As more sailors withdrew, Webster and the wounded officer became increasingly isolated from the protection of the larger formation.

Webster nevertheless stayed at the officer's side until help arrived.

The assault on Fort Fisher ultimately ended very differently from the earlier failed December expedition. Union Army troops succeeded in breaking into the fort after intense fighting, and the Confederate garrison was eventually overwhelmed.

The fall of Fort Fisher was one of the most important Union successes of the closing months of the Civil War. With the fort no longer protecting the Cape Fear River approaches, Wilmington could no longer function effectively as the Confederacy's major blockade-running port.

Union forces subsequently moved against Wilmington, further tightening the military and economic pressure on the Confederacy. Only a few months later, the principal Confederate armies surrendered and the Civil War came to an end.

For Henry S. Webster, however, January 15, 1865 remained the defining day of his naval service.

His conduct was formally recognized by the United States Navy. Under General Order No. 59, dated June 22, 1865, Webster received the Medal of Honor for his actions during the assault on Fort Fisher.

The Navy Medal of Honor had originated during the Civil War. Congress authorized a naval Medal of Honor in December 1861 for enlisted sailors and Marines who distinguished themselves through gallantry in action and other exceptional qualities.

It became the highest national recognition available for extraordinary naval conduct during the conflict. Sailors received the Medal of Honor for a wide range of actions, including operating guns under fire, rescuing shipmates, remaining at dangerous stations, participating in cutting-out operations, and displaying exceptional courage during naval landing assaults.

Webster's award belongs to this original Civil War-era Navy tradition. For the project database, his decoration is represented as Medal of Honor 1862–1912 Navy — 1865.

His official citation identifies him as a Landsman serving aboard USS Susquehanna and recognizes his conduct at Fort Fisher on January 15, 1865. It records that when enemy fire stopped the advance and more than two-thirds of the landing party retreated along the open beach, Webster voluntarily remained with a wounded officer under fire until assistance could be obtained.

No clasp, star, bar, or other device has been verified for his Medal of Honor. His verified entry therefore consists of one Medal of Honor without additional devices.

Landsman is also the highest naval rank or rating reliably verified for Webster. No authoritative evidence has been established showing that he later advanced to a higher naval rating, so his action-time rank and highest verified rank both remain Landsman.

Webster survived the Civil War and returned to civilian life after his naval service. Authoritative Medal of Honor sources preserve considerably more detail about his wartime action than about his later occupation and personal activities, so uncertain postwar claims should not be added without stronger documentation.

What is firmly established is that Webster lived for more than four decades after the war. During those years, the naval assault at Fort Fisher became recognized as one of the significant combined Army-Navy operations of the closing Civil War campaigns.

Webster also lived into the period when the later Navy Civil War Medal existed. However, surviving until that period and having qualifying Civil War naval service do not by themselves establish that an individual veteran personally received the medal.

No sufficiently strong recipient-specific issuance or receipt evidence has been verified for Henry S. Webster. Under the project's evidence rules, the Navy Civil War Medal therefore remains excluded from his final verified medal record.

This leaves the Medal of Honor as Webster's single verified military decoration.

Henry S. Webster died on July 2, 1910, in Brattleboro, Vermont, at the age of sixty-five. He was buried at Cedar Grove Cemetery in Fair Haven, Vermont.

His Medal of Honor legacy rests on a decision made when he was only twenty years old.

On January 15, 1865, Webster went ashore from USS Susquehanna as part of the naval assaulting force at Fort Fisher. When Confederate fire shattered the advance and most of the men around him withdrew, he found himself faced with a choice between retreating with the survivors and remaining in an exposed position with a wounded officer.

Webster remained.

Under continuing enemy fire, he stayed with the injured officer until assistance could be obtained and the wounded man could be taken safely to the rear.

His conduct represented the fundamental military principle of refusing to abandon a wounded comrade, even when fulfilling that obligation demanded extraordinary personal risk.

For this act of gallantry and devotion, Henry S. Webster received the Medal of Honor under General Order No. 59 of June 22, 1865.

With no additional military decoration supported by sufficient recipient-specific evidence, Medal of Honor 1862–1912 Navy — 1865 remains Henry S. Webster's single verified medal and the defining official recognition of his courage during the assault on Fort Fisher.