John Griffiths

Only six men from the fleet were recorded as entering Fort Fisher during the assault of 15 January 1865. John Griffiths was one of them. A Welsh-born sailor who served both the Union Army and the United States Navy during the American Civil War, Griffiths earned the Medal of Honor for carrying dispatches through one of the war's most fiercely contested coastal battles.

John Griffiths was born in Wales in 1835. By 1864 he was in Massachusetts, where records identify him under the surname John Griffith , a name variant also recognized in the Congressional Medal of Honor Society's record. On 8 April 1864, he enlisted at Barnstable as a private in the 20th Massachusetts Volunteer Infantry. His Army career lasted only a matter of weeks. On 17 May 1864, he transferred to the United States Navy, beginning the service that would ultimately place him inside the defenses of Fort Fisher.

By January 1865, Griffiths was serving aboard USS *Santiago de Cuba * as Captain of the Forecastle . Despite the word “Captain,” this was an enlisted U.S. Navy rating rather than a commissioned officer's rank. It belonged to the traditional seaman branch of the nineteenth-century Navy and reflected Griffiths' standing as an experienced sailor.

His defining moment came at Fort Fisher, North Carolina , the powerful Confederate fortress guarding the approaches to Wilmington. By the closing months of the Civil War, Wilmington had become the Confederacy's last major seaport and one of its most important remaining gateways for blockade runners carrying military supplies from overseas. In January 1865, Rear Admiral David D. Porter's fleet and Major General Alfred H. Terry's Army force returned for a second attempt to capture the fort.

On 15 January 1865 , Griffiths went ashore from USS *Santiago de Cuba*. He was part of a boat crew assigned to support one of the Union generals operating ashore. As the assault unfolded around the massive earthworks, Griffiths did more than remain with the landing force. He entered Fort Fisher itself and accompanied his party while carrying dispatches through the fighting at the height of the battle.

The official Medal of Honor citation preserved by the United States government records the extraordinary distinction of what followed. Griffiths was one of only six men from the fleet who entered the fort during the assault . While much of the naval landing force was driven back under intense Confederate fire, Griffiths continued forward with his assigned party inside the defenses.

For his conduct at Fort Fisher, Captain of the Forecastle John Griffiths was awarded the Medal of Honor under General Order No. 59, dated 22 June 1865 . His official citation recognizes his courage in entering the fort, accompanying the shore party, and carrying dispatches during the height of the battle. The Medal of Honor remains the central distinction of his military career and permanently connects his name with the final struggle for Fort Fisher.

The fall of Fort Fisher carried consequences far beyond the battlefield. Its capture closed the Cape Fear approaches to blockade runners and effectively sealed Wilmington, depriving the Confederacy of its last major Atlantic supply port. Griffiths had taken part not simply in a desperate assault, but in an operation that helped sever one of the Confederacy's final links with the outside world.

Griffiths' surviving service also supports his entitlement to the Navy Civil War Campaign Medal for his wartime naval service and the U.S. Army Civil War Campaign Medal for his qualifying service with the 20th Massachusetts Infantry. These campaign awards recognize his service in the Civil War rather than a separate act of gallantry, and therefore do not carry individual award citations like his Medal of Honor.

What happened to John Griffiths after the war remains largely hidden from the historical record. Even his year of death has not been reliably established. He was ultimately buried under the surname John Griffith in the Sailors' Home Cemetery at Wollaston, now part of Quincy, Massachusetts.

Much of Griffiths' life remains unknown, but one moment is documented with remarkable clarity. On 15 January 1865, when the fight for Fort Fisher reached its height, a Welsh-born American sailor carried his duty into the fort itself. John Griffiths entered with a handful of men from the fleet, carried dispatches through the battle, and emerged from history as a Medal of Honor recipient.