Daniel G. George

Daniel Griffin George (b. July 7, 1840 – d. February 26, 1916) alias William Smith was a Union Navy sailor in the American Civil War who received the U.S. military's highest decoration, the Medal of Honor.[1]

Daniel G. George
alias William Smith
Born(1840-07-07)July 7, 1840
Plaistow, New Hampshire
DiedFebruary 26, 1916(1916-02-26) (aged 75)
Amesbury, Massachusetts
Buried
Locust Grove Cemetery
Merrimac, Massachusetts
Allegiance United States of America
Union
Service/branch United States Navy
Union Navy
RankOrdinary Seaman
Unit U.S. Picket Boat No. 1
Battles/warsAmerican Civil War
Awards Medal of Honor

Military service
"Cushings Daring and Successful Exploit"

George was born in Plaistow, New Hampshire, on July 7, 1840. He first served during the Civil War in Company D, 1st Massachusetts Cavalry; enlisting September 16, 1861, for 3 years; mustered in September 17, 1861, as a Private; appointed 1st Sergeant February 8, 1863; re-enlisted January 1, 1864. George transferred to the Union Navy on May 7, 1864, as an Ordinary Seaman, under the alias name of William Smith; served on the USS North Carolina and USS Chicopee; volunteered from the Chicopee as one of the crew of U.S. Picket Boat No. 1 with Lieutenant William B. Cushing in the destruction of Rebel Ram CSS Albemarle near Plymouth, North Carolina; hurled into the Roanoke River by the explosion of the spar torpedo that sank the Albemarle and captured October 27, 1864; prisoner at the Confederate military prison in Salisbury, North Carolina until the close of war. He was discharged April 26, 1866, as a Coxswain from the Chicopee.[2]

Medal of Honor citation

Rank and organization: Ordinary Seaman, U.S. Navy. (alias William Smith.), Accredited to: New Hampshire, G.O. No.: 45, 31 December 1864.

George's official Medal of Honor citation reads:

George served on board U.S. Picket Boat No. 1, in action near Plymouth, North Carolina, 27 October 1864, against the Confederate ram, Albemarle, which had resisted repeated attacks by our steamers and had kept a large force of vessels employed in watching her. The picket boat, equipped with a spar torpedo, succeeded in passing the enemy pickets within 20 yards without being discovered and then made for the Albemarle under a full head of steam. Immediately taken under fire by the ram, the small boat plunged on, jumped the log boom which encircled the target and exploded its torpedo under the port bow of the ram. The picket boat was destroyed by enemy fire and almost the entire crew taken prisoner or lost. [3]

Death and burial

Medal of Honor recipient Daniel G. George died at Amesbury, Massachusetts on February 26, 1916 of a cerebral hemorrhage and was buried at the Locust Grove Cemetery in Merrimac, Massachusetts.

References
  1. "Medal of Honor Recipients". United States Army Center of Military History. Retrieved 11 August 2014.
  2. "Revised Register of the Soldiers and Sailors of New Hampshire in the War of the Rebellion. 1861-1866, Part 1". Google Books. New Hampshire. Adjutant-General's Office I.C. Evans, public printer, 1895 - New Hampshire - 1347 pages. Retrieved 3 February 2018.
  3. "Valor awards for Daniel Griffin George". Military Times, Hall of Valor. Archived from the original on 12 August 2014. Retrieved 11 August 2014.
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