Thomas W. Hamilton

Wounded at the wheel he returned to fight on till ship sank!

Thomas W. Hamilton was born in Scotland and served the Union Navy as a Quartermaster aboard USS Cincinnati. His Medal of Honor action came during the dangerous attempt to engage the Confederate batteries at Vicksburg.

On 27 May 1863, Cincinnati fought at close range under a destructive fire of shot and shell. Hamilton was severely wounded while at the wheel. Even after being hurt, he returned to his post and had to be ordered below as the damaged ironclad continued fighting and ultimately sank.

Medal of Honor Citation (condensed): During Cincinnati's attack on the Vicksburg batteries, Hamilton remained conspicuously gallant, returned to the wheel after being severely wounded, and continued until he had to be sent below.

The Congressional Medal of Honor Society records Hamilton's birthplace as Scotland and his burial as at sea, but does not provide a reliable death date. This biography therefore omits the unsupported 1833-1869 chronology that had circulated in secondary summaries and confines the later-life statement to what the reviewed evidence actually establishes.