Joachim Pease

He Kept Loading the Gun as Alabama Fired Back

Joachim Pease was born around 1842 on Fogo Island. The surviving records do not establish with complete certainty which Fogo Island was meant, and later researchers have debated whether the place referred to the island in Cape Verde or another location. What is certain is that Pease eventually entered the United States Navy and became one of the sailors whose courage aboard USS Kearsarge helped shape one of the most famous naval engagements of the American Civil War.

Pease originally entered naval service as an Ordinary Seaman. By 1864, official records identified him as a Seaman aboard USS Kearsarge, a Union sloop-of-war commanded by Captain John A. Winslow. The ship spent much of its wartime service searching for Confederate commerce raiders that had inflicted serious losses on United States merchant shipping.

The most famous of those raiders was CSS Alabama. Under Captain Raphael Semmes, Alabama had spent nearly two years attacking Union commerce across the world's oceans. By June 1864, the Confederate vessel had entered the French port of Cherbourg for repairs. Kearsarge soon arrived offshore, setting the stage for a battle that attracted international attention.

On June 19, 1864, Alabama left Cherbourg and steamed into open water to confront Kearsarge.

Pease was serving as a member of Kearsarge's gun crew. During the engagement he worked as loader at No. 2 gun, a demanding position that required him to remain at the weapon while the two ships maneuvered and exchanged heavy fire.

The battle quickly became intense. Kearsarge and Alabama circled one another while their crews fired artillery at relatively close range. Shells and shot struck the vessels as sailors repeatedly loaded, aimed, and fired their guns. Maintaining an effective rate of fire required discipline from every member of a gun crew, particularly while enemy projectiles were passing through and around the ship.

Pease remained at his station.

His conduct during the fight was specifically praised for coolness and good behavior under fire. As loader of No. 2 gun, he continued carrying out his duties while Kearsarge engaged one of the Confederacy's most successful warships. His role was not that of an officer directing the battle from the quarterdeck. He was an enlisted sailor performing the dangerous physical work necessary to keep his gun in action.

The crews continued firing as the ships maneuvered in a series of circles. Kearsarge's disciplined gunnery gradually gained the advantage. Alabama suffered serious damage, began taking on water, and eventually struck her colors. The Confederate raider sank shortly afterward.

The destruction of CSS Alabama was a major Union naval victory. The Confederate cruiser had captured or destroyed numerous Union merchant vessels and had become one of the most feared commerce raiders of the war. Its defeat off Cherbourg ended its long campaign against American shipping and gave Kearsarge an enduring place in United States naval history.

Pease's individual contribution to that victory did not go unnoticed. His commander included him among the sailors whose conduct during the engagement deserved special recognition.

For his gallantry aboard USS Kearsarge during the battle with CSS Alabama on June 19, 1864, Joachim Pease was awarded the Medal of Honor. His official recognition was recorded under Navy General Order No. 45 on December 31, 1864.

The surviving Medal of Honor citation emphasized his good conduct and gallantry while serving at his gun. His recognized rank for the action was Seaman, and no higher verified naval rank has been established for his profile.

An unusual detail surrounds Pease's Medal of Honor. The surviving medal associated with him contains an engraving error giving the battle date as June 9, 1864. The engagement actually occurred on June 19. Official battle records establish June 19, 1864, as the correct action date.

Even more remarkably, surviving evidence indicates that Pease may never have personally received the Medal of Honor that had been awarded to him. His medal remained within Navy custody rather than being documented as delivered to him. The reason is connected to one of the great uncertainties surrounding his life: after his wartime service, Joachim Pease largely disappears from the surviving historical record.

Little reliable information has been established about what happened to him after the Civil War. His later residence, occupation, death date, and burial place remain unknown. Those gaps have made his life unusually difficult for historians to reconstruct.

What remains firmly documented is his service aboard Kearsarge and his conduct during the fight against Alabama.

Pease's story also illustrates how much a naval victory depended on enlisted sailors whose names often received far less attention than those of commanding officers. A warship's guns could not remain effective without men repeatedly performing exhausting and dangerous tasks under fire. Loaders, gun captains, powder handlers, and other crewmen had to continue functioning despite noise, smoke, impact, and the constant possibility of being struck.

On June 19, 1864, Joachim Pease did exactly that.

While two famous warships fought off the coast of France, he remained at No. 2 gun and helped keep Kearsarge's battery in action. Alabama was defeated and sank, ending the career of one of the Confederacy's most effective commerce raiders.

Many details of Joachim Pease's life have been lost to history, but his actions during that battle were preserved. His Medal of Honor stands as the official recognition of an enlisted sailor who stayed at his gun under enemy fire and helped USS Kearsarge win one of the Civil War's most celebrated naval victories.