John S. Lanning

He Stood by a Navy Howitzer Under Enemy Fire

John S. Lanning was born on August 29, 1843, in Rochester, New York. During the American Civil War he eventually entered the United States Navy under the name John S. Lann, the name under which his wartime naval service and Medal of Honor were officially recorded. Later historical records also identify him as John S. Lanning, preserving both names as part of the same remarkable military story.

By March 1865, Lanning was serving as a Landsman aboard USS Magnolia, a Union Navy steamer operating with the East Gulf Blockading Squadron. The Civil War was approaching its final weeks, but Confederate resistance remained active in Florida. St. Marks, near the Gulf Coast, was strategically important because its port and transportation connections could still support Confederate forces.

Union leaders organized an expedition against the area in early March 1865. Soldiers moved toward St. Marks while sailors from Union warships accompanied them ashore with naval howitzers. These relatively mobile artillery pieces gave the land force additional firepower, but moving heavy guns across difficult ground while exposed to enemy fire demanded extraordinary physical effort and discipline.

Lanning left the relative security of USS Magnolia and joined this combined Army-Navy operation.

On March 5 and 6, 1865, during the fighting around St. Marks and the Battle of Natural Bridge, he served with the Army force in connection with the Navy howitzers. His Medal of Honor action centered on his efforts to help transport one of the guns and his determination to remain with it while Confederate fire threatened the Union position.

Moving a naval howitzer over land was exhausting even without combat. The gun, carriage, ammunition, and associated equipment had to be hauled across terrain far different from a ship's deck. Under enemy fire, every movement became considerably more dangerous.

Lanning continued assisting with the gun despite those conditions.

As Confederate forces resisted the Union advance, the fighting intensified. Lanning remained at his artillery position rather than abandoning the weapon when it came under fire. His steadiness and determination became the defining features of his official recognition.

The Union attempt to break through the Confederate defenses at Natural Bridge ultimately failed. Confederate troops prevented the attacking force from reaching Tallahassee, allowing the Florida capital to remain outside Union occupation during the war. Yet individual acts of courage during the expedition were subsequently recognized, including those of the Navy sailors who had served the artillery pieces ashore.

Lanning was among them.

On June 22, 1865, only a few months after the action and shortly after the collapse of the Confederacy, the United States formally recognized his conduct with the Medal of Honor. The award was recorded under the name John S. Lann, the identity under which he had served in the Navy.

His official citation emphasized his remarkable efforts in helping transport the gun and his coolness and determination in remaining by it while under enemy fire. The wording is significant because his recognition was not based simply on being present during the expedition. It honored the manner in which he continued performing his duty when the artillery position itself had become dangerous.

Lanning received the Medal of Honor during the decoration's earliest historical period. The Navy Medal of Honor had been authorized by Congress in December 1861, making it the first version of what developed into the United States' highest military decoration. During the Civil War, Navy recipients included sailors who distinguished themselves in ship-to-ship combat, attacks on fortified positions, hazardous rescue operations, and landing-party actions such as the one at St. Marks.

For Lanning, the Medal of Honor represented a distinctly naval form of courage carried onto land. He was not serving as a regular Army infantryman. He was a sailor from USS Magnolia supporting soldiers with Navy artillery, demonstrating how closely the Union Army and Navy could cooperate during coastal operations.

His verified Civil War naval service also falls within the period later commemorated by the Navy Civil War Campaign Medal. Established decades after the conflict, the campaign medal recognized qualifying naval service during the Civil War. In Lanning's case, it represents the broader Union Navy service surrounding the specific act of courage for which he received the Medal of Honor. No service star or other campaign device is associated with his St. Marks action on that medal.

The identity under which he served adds another unusual element to his story. Official Medal of Honor records preserve him as John S. Lann, while later records identify him as John S. Lanning. Modern Medal of Honor records explicitly connect the two names, ensuring that the sailor honored for courage at St. Marks is correctly linked with the man who lived the remainder of his life as Lanning.

After the Civil War, Lanning survived for more than four decades. He lived through a period in which the United States changed dramatically and the veterans of the Civil War became increasingly central to national remembrance of the conflict.

John S. Lanning died on April 13, 1907, at the age of sixty-three. He was buried in Yankton Municipal Cemetery in Yankton, South Dakota, under the Lanning name.

His Medal of Honor story remains closely tied to the final weeks of the Civil War. He was a Navy Landsman serving far from the deck of his ship, helping move a heavy artillery piece with an Army expedition through hostile territory.

When enemy fire reached the gun position, he stayed.

He continued helping with the weapon.

He demonstrated the coolness and determination expected of a sailor under fire even though the battlefield was on land rather than at sea.

For that conduct at St. Marks on March 5 and 6, 1865, John S. Lanning—officially recorded in his Medal of Honor award as John S. Lann—earned a permanent place among the Civil War recipients of the United States Medal of Honor.