John Williams

He Kept the 11-Inch Gun Firing for Four Hours

John Williams was born in 1831 in Elizabethtown, New Jersey, now the city of Elizabeth. During the American Civil War, he entered the United States Navy and served as a Boatswain’s Mate aboard USS Mohican, a steam sloop-of-war that took part in some of the Union Navy’s earliest major operations against the Confederate coastline.

As a Boatswain’s Mate, Williams belonged to the experienced enlisted leadership of the ship. His rating involved responsibility for seamanship and deck operations, but when Mohican went into battle he also served as captain of one of the vessel’s powerful 11-inch guns.

His defining action came on November 7, 1861, during the Battle of Port Royal in South Carolina.

Port Royal was strategically important to the Union because its harbor offered a valuable base from which naval forces could maintain the blockade of the Southern coast. Confederate defenses guarded the entrance with Fort Walker on Hilton Head Island and Fort Beauregard across the water on Bay Point.

To capture the harbor, Flag Officer Samuel Francis Du Pont led a large Union naval force into action against the Confederate fortifications.

USS Mohican joined the attacking squadron.

The Union ships steamed in repeated passes before the forts, using their mobility to bring heavy naval guns against fixed Confederate batteries. The fighting exposed crews to artillery fire from shore while sailors worked their weapons amid smoke, concussion, splintering wood, and the constant possibility of a direct hit.

John Williams remained at his 11-inch gun.

As captain of the gun, he was responsible for helping direct its operation through a prolonged engagement. Loading, aiming, firing, and maintaining such a weapon required discipline and coordination, especially aboard a moving warship under enemy fire.

For approximately four hours, Williams continued performing his duty during the battle.

His Medal of Honor citation later emphasized the cool courage he displayed while commanding his gun throughout the engagement.

The Port Royal operation became an important early Union naval victory.

Repeated fire from Du Pont’s ships gradually overwhelmed the Confederate batteries. Fort Walker and Fort Beauregard were abandoned, allowing Union forces to secure Port Royal Sound and establish a major base along the South Carolina coast.

For Williams, the battle became the moment that defined his place in American naval history.

The Medal of Honor itself was still a new decoration. Congress had authorized the Navy Medal of Honor in December 1861 to recognize extraordinary conduct by enlisted sailors and Marines during the war.

Williams’s actions at Port Royal had occurred even before the medal was formally created.

His conduct was later recognized under General Order No. 17, issued on July 10, 1863. His Medal of Honor was presented on August 1, 1863.

The award recognized his courage and steadiness while serving aboard USS Mohican during the November 1861 engagement at Hilton Head.

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

Williams’s broader Civil War naval service also falls within the period later commemorated by the Navy Civil War Campaign Medal. That decoration was established after his death to recognize qualifying service by United States Navy and Marine Corps personnel during the Civil War.

The distinction is important.

The Civil War Campaign Medal represents the wider period of service in which Williams fought, while the Medal of Honor was awarded specifically for his conduct aboard USS Mohican at Port Royal.

Williams’s service illustrates the demanding nature of naval combat during the opening months of the Civil War.

The Union Navy was expanding rapidly, wooden steam warships were being used aggressively against fortified coastal positions, and sailors were often required to fight powerful shore batteries from relatively short range.

A gun captain such as Williams carried considerable responsibility.

His crew had to keep the weapon functioning.

Orders had to be followed precisely.

Fire had to continue despite enemy shells striking around the ship.

And throughout the engagement, discipline could mean the difference between an effective gun crew and one unable to fight.

Williams demonstrated that discipline at Port Royal.

He remained at his station through hours of combat and helped maintain Mohican’s fire against the Confederate defenses until the Union squadron succeeded.

The victory had consequences beyond the battlefield.

Union control of Port Royal provided the Navy with an important operating base for the South Atlantic Blockading Squadron. From there, Federal naval forces could strengthen the blockade and conduct further operations along the coasts of South Carolina, Georgia, and Florida.

Williams survived the Civil War and lived for more than three decades after the conflict ended.

By the time of his later life, naval warfare had changed dramatically. The wooden steam sloops and massive smoothbore guns of the Civil War era were gradually giving way to steel ships and newer weapons.

John Williams died on October 30, 1899, in Brooklyn, New York.

He was buried at Holy Cross Cemetery in Brooklyn.

His name must be carefully distinguished from other Civil War sailors named John Williams who also received the Medal of Honor. The sailor remembered here was the Boatswain’s Mate of USS Mohican—the man who served as captain of an 11-inch gun during the Battle of Port Royal.

On November 7, 1861, Confederate forts opened fire on the Union fleet.

USS Mohican entered the engagement.

For hours, Williams stayed with his gun.

Under the fire of the shore batteries, he continued directing its operation with the coolness and courage later recognized by the United States Navy.

For that conduct, John Williams received the Medal of Honor and earned a lasting place among the sailors who helped secure one of the Union Navy’s earliest major victories of the Civil War.