John Hickman

He Entered a Steam-Filled Fireroom Under Fire

John S. Hickman was born on March 2, 1837, in Blair County, Pennsylvania. During the American Civil War, he entered the United States Navy and served aboard USS Richmond as a Second Class Fireman. His rating placed him among the sailors responsible for the machinery and furnaces that powered a steam warship, and it was deep inside Richmond’s engineering spaces that Hickman performed the act of courage for which he received the Medal of Honor.

The naval rating of Fireman did not mean that Hickman was primarily assigned to extinguish fires. In the nineteenth-century steam Navy, firemen worked around boilers, furnaces, machinery, intense heat, and steam. Their duties were essential to keeping a warship moving and operational, particularly during battle.

USS Richmond was a steam-powered sloop of war serving with Union naval forces on the Mississippi River. By early 1863, the Union was trying to gain complete control of the river, but Confederate strongholds at Vicksburg and Port Hudson continued to block that objective.

Port Hudson, Louisiana, occupied a strategically important position above Baton Rouge. Confederate artillery batteries overlooking the Mississippi could fire on Union vessels attempting to pass the defenses.

Rear Admiral David G. Farragut decided to challenge those batteries.

On the night of March 14, 1863, Union warships attempted to run past Port Hudson.

USS Richmond was among them.

The passage exposed the ships to intense Confederate artillery fire. In the darkness, vessels had to navigate the river while enemy batteries fired from fortified positions along the shore.

During the engagement, Richmond was struck by a heavy projectile.

A solid rifle shot damaged part of the ship’s steam system, creating an emergency in the fireroom. Hot steam began filling the engineering space, turning an already dangerous working environment into a potentially deadly one.

For the men below decks, the threat was immediate.

Steam could scald or kill. The furnaces remained hot, and the ship was still under enemy fire. The danger was not limited to the Confederate guns outside. A serious failure within the machinery spaces could threaten Richmond herself.

Second Class Fireman John S. Hickman responded directly to the emergency.

He entered the steam-filled fireroom.

Hickman worked to remove the fires from the furnaces and reduce the danger created by the damaged steam system. The conditions forced him to withdraw, but he returned to the hazardous space again as the work continued.

His Medal of Honor recognition centered on that persistence.

He repeatedly exposed himself to the heat and escaping steam while performing the work needed to bring the engineering emergency under control.

There was little public visibility in what Hickman was doing.

He was not standing on an exposed deck where officers across the ship could easily watch his actions. His battlefield was below decks, among boilers, furnaces, machinery, heat, and steam.

Yet the danger was every bit as real.

A steam warship depended on the sailors in its engineering spaces. Without them, the vessel could lose propulsion or suffer catastrophic mechanical damage at the very moment it was under attack.

Hickman remained focused on that responsibility.

His courage was therefore closely connected to his professional duty. He understood the machinery environment in which he served and continued working when that environment had become extremely dangerous.

USS Richmond ultimately could not complete the passage beyond Port Hudson that night and withdrew after suffering damage.

The attempted passage was only one part of the larger Union campaign to control the Mississippi River, but the events aboard Richmond produced several acts of courage that were formally recognized by the Navy.

Hickman was among the sailors singled out.

His conduct was recognized in General Order No. 17, dated July 10, 1863.

For his actions aboard USS Richmond during the attack on Port Hudson on March 14, 1863, Second Class Fireman John S. Hickman received the Medal of Honor.

No additional clasp, bar, star, or other device accompanied his Medal of Honor.

The decoration recognized a form of naval bravery that can easily be overlooked when the history of a battle focuses only on guns, ships, and commanders.

Hickman’s story took place inside the machinery spaces that made nineteenth-century steam warfare possible.

When enemy fire damaged Richmond and steam filled the fireroom, he did not simply abandon the compartment and remain away from the danger.

He returned to the work.

That distinction is central to understanding his Medal of Honor action.

Hickman was not decorated for an accidental encounter with danger. His recognition came from continuing to perform an essential task despite knowing how dangerous the damaged engineering space had become.

He survived the Civil War and lived for almost four more decades after the conflict.

John S. Hickman died on December 24, 1904. He was buried at Calvary Cemetery in Altoona, Pennsylvania.

His military legacy remains connected to the night USS Richmond came under heavy fire at Port Hudson.

Above deck, Confederate artillery was striking at the Union warship.

Below deck, damaged machinery was releasing dangerous steam into the fireroom.

In that confined and hazardous space, Second Class Fireman John S. Hickman repeatedly returned to his duty and worked to reduce the danger to his ship.

It was an act of courage performed far from the traditional image of a battlefield charge, but it demonstrated the same willingness to face mortal danger in service to others.

For that conduct aboard USS Richmond on March 14, 1863, John S. Hickman earned the Medal of Honor and a lasting place in the history of Civil War naval service.