Thomas Fitzpatrick

Wounded at His Gun, He Put It Back in the Fight

Thomas Fitzpatrick was born in 1837 in Canada and later served in the United States Navy during the American Civil War. His naval career brought him aboard USS Hartford, flagship of Rear Admiral David G. Farragut, and placed him at the center of one of the war’s most famous naval engagements. On August 5, 1864, at the Battle of Mobile Bay, Fitzpatrick continued fighting after being wounded and after his gun position had been devastated by enemy fire. His actions that day earned him the Medal of Honor.

Fitzpatrick served aboard Hartford with the rating of coxswain. By the time of the Mobile Bay operation, he had been entrusted with an important combat responsibility as captain of the ship’s No. 1 gun. A gun captain was responsible for directing the weapon and its crew, maintaining order during loading and firing, and keeping the gun operating despite the confusion and destruction of battle.

Mobile Bay was a major Confederate stronghold on the Gulf Coast. Its entrance was protected by Fort Morgan and Fort Gaines, Confederate gunboats, underwater mines then commonly known as torpedoes, and the powerful ironclad CSS Tennessee. Farragut assembled a Union fleet to force its way through these defenses and establish control of the bay.

USS Hartford led the attack as Farragut’s flagship.

On August 5, 1864, the Union fleet advanced into Mobile Bay under intense Confederate fire. The danger became immediately apparent when the monitor USS Tecumseh struck a mine and sank rapidly. The remaining ships continued forward while Confederate batteries and warships poured fire into the attacking vessels.

Aboard Hartford, Fitzpatrick and the crew of the No. 1 gun were directly exposed to the violence of the engagement.

During the battle, an enemy shell exploded between Hartford’s two forward 9-inch guns.

The blast devastated Fitzpatrick’s position.

Men around him were killed and wounded, equipment was destroyed, and Fitzpatrick himself was struck several times in the face by splinters. His gun was left virtually disabled at a moment when Hartford needed every available weapon.

Fitzpatrick did not abandon his station.

He first dealt with the human cost of the explosion, ensuring that the wounded were sent below and that the dead and other casualties were cleared from the gun position.

Then he turned his attention to the damaged weapon.

The gun’s equipment had been torn apart by the explosion. Fitzpatrick and the surviving members of the crew had to replace critical components, including the track, breeching, and side tackle, before the weapon could function properly again.

Working amid the continuing battle, he restored the gun.

Within a short time, the No. 1 gun was back in action.

Despite the wounds to his face and the destruction that had just occurred around him, Fitzpatrick resumed fighting the weapon as though the catastrophic interruption had not stopped him.

His conduct became an example to the sailors around him.

The significance of his actions was practical as well as courageous. A disabled gun reduced Hartford’s fighting strength at a time when the flagship was engaged by Confederate forts and vessels. By repairing the weapon and reorganizing its crew, Fitzpatrick returned an important part of the ship’s firepower to the battle.

The engagement continued as Farragut’s ships forced their way into Mobile Bay.

Once inside, the Union fleet confronted CSS Tennessee. The Confederate ironclad fought against overwhelming Union forces until damage to the vessel and its steering system made further resistance impossible. Tennessee ultimately surrendered, marking a decisive moment in the battle.

The Union victory at Mobile Bay greatly weakened Confederate control of the Gulf Coast and eliminated a major naval threat in the region. It became one of Farragut’s most celebrated victories and one of the defining naval actions of the Civil War.

For Thomas Fitzpatrick, the battle became the defining action of his own military service.

His bravery aboard USS Hartford was formally recognized with the Medal of Honor.

The award was recorded under General Order No. 45, dated December 31, 1864.

Fitzpatrick’s Medal of Honor recognized far more than his refusal to leave an exposed gun position. He had been wounded. Men around him had been killed and injured. Essential equipment had been destroyed. Yet he remained calm enough to organize the removal of casualties, repair the damaged gun, assemble a functioning crew, and return the weapon to combat.

His response transformed a shattered gun station back into an effective fighting position.

That combination of courage, leadership, technical competence, and determination under fire distinguished his conduct during the battle.

Fitzpatrick’s broader qualifying naval service during the American Civil War is also represented by the Navy Civil War Campaign Medal.

The Navy Civil War Campaign Medal was authorized in 1908 to recognize qualifying Civil War service by personnel of the United States Navy and Marine Corps. The year 1908 represents the authorization of the decoration rather than the date of Fitzpatrick’s wartime action.

For Fitzpatrick, the two decorations commemorate different aspects of his military record.

The Medal of Honor recognizes his specific courage aboard USS Hartford at Mobile Bay on August 5, 1864.

The Navy Civil War Campaign Medal represents his broader qualifying service in the Union Navy during the conflict.

No verified devices are associated with either decoration.

The surviving historical record provides little reliable information about Fitzpatrick’s later life, and his date of death has not been conclusively established. What remains firmly documented, however, is the extraordinary episode that occurred at his gun aboard Hartford.

An enemy shell exploded through his position.

His shipmates fell around him.

Splinters struck him in the face.

His gun was disabled.

Thomas Fitzpatrick stayed.

He cleared the casualties, repaired the shattered equipment, rebuilt his gun crew, and returned the weapon to action within minutes.

For that courage and determination during the Battle of Mobile Bay, Thomas Fitzpatrick received the Medal of Honor.

Together with the Navy Civil War Campaign Medal recognizing his broader qualifying service, his decorations preserve the legacy of a Union sailor who refused to let wounds, casualties, or a shattered gun position take him out of the fight.