Joseph Mitchell (Medal of Honor)

He fired an improvised gun under fire in a besieged capital.

Joseph Andrew Mitchell was born in Philadelphia on 27 November 1876. He entered the United States Navy and served as a gunner's mate first class aboard USS Newark. In 1900 the cruiser operated in Chinese waters as an international force intervened during the Boxer uprising.

Mitchell was among the sailors sent inland to defend the foreign legations in Peking, now Beijing. The defenders were isolated and short of effective artillery. Their improvised gun combined parts and ammunition drawn from different national contingents. It became known as the international gun because of this multinational construction and service.

On 12 July 1900, Mitchell rendered the meritorious service for which he received the Medal of Honor. He worked with the artillery during the siege, exposing himself to the dangers faced by the small naval and marine detachments defending the legation quarter. The Navy's award order was issued on 19 July 1901. His service in the fighting also placed him within the qualifying operations for the China Relief Expedition Medal.

Mitchell subsequently attained the rank of lieutenant. He died in Philadelphia on 9 June 1925, aged forty-eight, and was buried in St Paul's Catholic Cemetery at Portsmouth, Virginia. His decoration commemorates a naval specialist's work ashore during a siege in which artillery skill and the cooperation of several nations were central to the defenders' survival.