John Preston

Wounded in Both Eyes, He Still Tried to Return

John Preston was born in Ireland in 1841 and later came to the United States. During the American Civil War, he entered the United States Navy and served as a landsman aboard USS Oneida, one of the Union warships committed to operations against Confederate-held Mobile Bay.

By 1864, Mobile Bay had become one of the Confederacy’s most important remaining ports on the Gulf Coast. Strong coastal fortifications protected the approaches, while Confederate naval forces added another layer of resistance. For the Union Navy, forcing a passage into the bay meant confronting shore batteries, underwater obstructions, and enemy vessels in a confined and dangerous environment.

On August 5, 1864, USS Oneida joined the Union fleet in the Battle of Mobile Bay.

The operation placed sailors at their guns under intense enemy fire as the fleet fought its way past Confederate defenses. For Preston, the battle would become the defining event of his naval service.

Serving at his battle station aboard Oneida, Preston remained at his gun while the ship came under fire.

During the action, he was badly wounded.

The injuries were serious enough to affect both of his eyes, yet Preston did not immediately abandon his position. He remained at the gun despite the pain and danger around him, continuing his duties as the battle unfolded.

Eventually, his condition forced him to leave the station and seek medical attention.

Even then, the full extent of his injuries was not immediately apparent from his own behavior. Preston reportedly treated the wound as though it were less serious than it actually was and went below to the surgeon.

Once there, he did not simply become a passive casualty.

Despite his own injuries, Preston helped other wounded sailors.

The scene below decks during a naval battle could be as terrible as the fighting above. Wounded men were brought from the gun decks while surgeons and attendants worked under extraordinary pressure. Preston, himself seriously injured, assisted others who had also been struck during the engagement.

He then attempted to return to his battle station.

Only after examination did it become clear how severe his wounds were. Both of Preston’s eyes had been seriously injured.

The fact that he had remained at his gun, helped other wounded men, and still wanted to return to duty despite those injuries became the central reason his conduct was remembered.

The Battle of Mobile Bay itself became one of the most important Union naval victories of the Civil War.

Union warships forced their way into the bay, overcame Confederate resistance, and helped break the strength of the defenses protecting Mobile’s maritime approaches. The operation severely reduced the Confederacy’s ability to use the port and strengthened the Union blockade along the Gulf Coast.

For the sailors aboard USS Oneida, however, the victory was earned at close personal cost.

Men were killed and wounded as enemy fire struck the ships. Gun crews continued serving their weapons while surrounded by smoke, splintering wood, noise, and casualties. Preston’s Medal of Honor action came from within that environment.

His courage was not based on a single dramatic charge or the capture of an enemy flag.

It was demonstrated through endurance.

He stayed at his post after being wounded.

He continued until his injuries forced him away.

He helped other casualties even while suffering himself.

And after doing so, he attempted to return to the fight.

That combination of determination and concern for his fellow sailors brought official recognition.

On December 31, 1864, John Preston’s conduct at Mobile Bay was recognized under Navy General Order No. 45, and he received the Medal of Honor.

The Medal of Honor had been created only a few years earlier during the Civil War. For Navy recipients, it recognized extraordinary conduct in combat and dangerous naval operations.

Preston’s award preserved the story of a landsman who continued doing his duty after being seriously wounded and who still turned his attention toward the suffering of others.

He survived the battle and the war.

Unlike many Medal of Honor recipients whose stories centered on command, rank, or later military promotion, Preston remained known primarily for the courage he displayed as an enlisted sailor aboard USS Oneida.

His rank of landsman placed him among the lower enlisted ratings of the Civil War Navy, but his actions at Mobile Bay demonstrated that extraordinary courage was not limited by rank.

After the war, Preston eventually became associated with the veterans’ community at Togus, Maine, where many former Union servicemen spent their later years.

He died on May 26, 1885.

John Preston was buried at Togus National Cemetery in Maine.

He had lived only about twenty years beyond the Civil War, but the action that defined his military legacy remained fixed in the record of the Battle of Mobile Bay.

On August 5, 1864, while serving aboard USS Oneida, Preston suffered severe wounds to both eyes.

He stayed at his gun as long as he could.

When finally forced below, he helped other wounded sailors.

Then he tried to return to his battle station.

That determination transformed an ordinary landsman into a Medal of Honor recipient and ensured that his courage aboard USS Oneida would remain part of the history of one of the Civil War’s greatest naval battles.