Marcus Aurelius Hanna

Braved heavy fire to carry water to comrades in rifle pits.

Marcus Aurelius Hanna was born in Bristol, Maine, on November 3, 1842. During the Civil War he served as a sergeant in Company B, 50th Massachusetts Infantry. At Port Hudson, Louisiana, on July 4, 1863, he exposed himself to heavy fire to carry water to comrades in the rifle pits and later received the Medal of Honor, presented November 2, 1895. After the war, Hanna became a lighthouse keeper. On January 28, 1885, while principal keeper at Cape Elizabeth Light Station, he helped rescue two sailors from the wrecked schooner Australia; the Lighthouse Service awarded him the Gold Lifesaving Medal on April 25, 1885. He died in South Portland, Maine, in 1921. Sources reviewed do not establish a prewar occupation.

Sources: https://www.cmohs.org/recipients/marcus-a-hanna ; https://www.army.mil/medalofhonor/citations1.html ; https://www.history.uscg.mil/Research/THE-LONG-BLUE-LINE/Article/2931744/the-long-blue-line-hanna-the-services-forgotten-medal-of-honor-hero/ ; https://www.history.uscg.mil/Browse-by-Topic/Notable-People/Award-Recipients/Gold-Lifesaving-Medal/