Jeremiah Regan

He Held His Gun Under a Storm of Fire

Jeremiah Regan was born around 1832 in Boston, Massachusetts. During the American Civil War, he entered the United States Navy and served aboard USS Galena, one of the Union Navy’s early ironclad warships. His service placed him in the dangerous naval operations of 1862 along Virginia’s rivers, where Union forces attempted to move toward Richmond and challenge Confederate defenses protecting the capital.

By May 1862, Regan held the rating of Quartermaster aboard Galena. Although the title might suggest an administrative position in another military context, a Navy quartermaster of the period performed important duties connected with navigation, steering, signals, and the operation of the ship. During battle, however, sailors could also be assigned specific combat stations, and Regan served as captain of No. 2 gun. That designation described his responsibility at the gun and was not a military rank.

On May 15, 1862, USS Galena joined other Union vessels in an attempt to force their way past Confederate defenses at Drewry’s Bluff on the James River. The operation formed part of the wider Union effort to approach Richmond by water. Confederate forces had established powerful batteries high above the river, creating an exceptionally difficult position for attacking warships.

Galena became one of the principal targets of the Confederate guns. The ironclad endured sustained artillery fire as she engaged the batteries at relatively close range. Heavy projectiles repeatedly struck the vessel, inflicting severe damage and causing substantial casualties among the crew.

Regan remained at his combat station during this punishment.

Enemy fire disabled men around the ship, and Confederate sharpshooters added another danger to the sailors attempting to continue operating Galena’s weapons. Despite the intense fire, Regan continued working his gun. His steadiness under these conditions became the defining act of his naval career.

Galena suffered heavily during the engagement. Thirteen members of the crew were killed and eleven wounded as Confederate artillery penetrated or battered the vessel. The Union squadron ultimately could not overcome the elevated defenses at Drewry’s Bluff and withdrew after several hours of fighting.

Although the naval attack failed to break through to Richmond, individual acts of courage aboard the Union ships drew official attention. Regan’s conduct at No. 2 gun was singled out because he continued to perform his duties while the ship was being struck repeatedly and while enemy sharpshooters concentrated fire on exposed members of the crew.

His bravery did not pass unnoticed. President Abraham Lincoln visited USS Galena on July 8, 1862, during a period when the president was personally examining military operations in Virginia. Regan was among the sailors whose conduct during the Drewry’s Bluff engagement received recognition following the battle.

For his gallantry aboard Galena on May 15, 1862, Jeremiah Regan received the Medal of Honor. The formal Navy recognition was recorded under General Order No. 11 on April 3, 1863. The decoration honored his steadfast conduct while serving as Quartermaster and manning his gun under exceptionally heavy enemy fire.

The timing of the award is important. Regan’s heroic action occurred in May 1862, while the formal Medal of Honor order followed in April 1863. His recognized rank during the action was Quartermaster.

Regan’s naval career also included a later advancement. On October 25, 1862, he was appointed Mate, a position that represents the highest verified rank or appointment associated with his service. This advancement came several months after the Drewry’s Bluff battle and therefore should not be confused with the rating he held when performing the action that earned the Medal of Honor.

His subsequent service record took a very different turn. Official Navy records state that Regan deserted on November 8, 1862, only a short time after his appointment as Mate. The surviving documentation does not establish the circumstances or motives behind that event, so they should not be inferred. The desertion remains part of his verified naval record, but it does not alter the documented courage for which he had already been recognized at Drewry’s Bluff.

Very little reliable information has been established about Regan’s life after his naval service. His date of death and burial location remain uncertain. As a result, his surviving historical identity is tied most strongly to the brief but violent period he spent aboard USS Galena.

The Battle of Drewry’s Bluff itself became an important demonstration of the limitations of naval power against well-positioned river defenses. Union vessels could bring substantial firepower to bear, but the Confederate guns occupied commanding heights and proved extremely difficult to silence. Galena’s experience in the battle also provided valuable lessons about early ironclad construction, as repeated Confederate hits exposed weaknesses in her armor protection.

For the sailors aboard the ship, however, the battle was not an abstract lesson in naval engineering. It was a close and destructive engagement in which men continued serving their guns while shells tore into their vessel and casualties mounted around them.

Jeremiah Regan was one of those sailors. As Quartermaster and captain of No. 2 gun, he remained at his station under sustained artillery and sharpshooter fire and continued fighting despite the damage inflicted on Galena and her crew.

His Medal of Honor preserved the Navy’s recognition of that conduct. Whatever uncertainties surround the remainder of his life, the events of May 15, 1862, remain clear: under some of the heaviest fire faced by the Union Navy on the James River, Regan stayed with his gun and performed his duty with conspicuous courage.