Samuel W. Davis

Who is Samuel W. Davis?

Samuel W. Davis was a Union Navy sailor in the American Civil War and a recipient of the U.S. military's highest decoration, the Medal of Honor, for his actions at the Battle of Mobile Bay.

Born in 1845 in Brewer, Maine, Davis was still living in that city when he joined the Navy. He served during the Civil War as an ordinary seaman on the USS Brooklyn. At the Battle of Mobile Bay on August 5, 1864, he acted as a look-out for naval mines despite heavy fire. For this action, he was awarded the Medal of Honor four months later, on December 31, 1864.

Davis's official Medal of Honor citation reads:

On board the U.S.S. Brooklyn during successful attacks against Fort Morgan, rebel gunboats and the ram Tennessee in Mobile Bay, on 5 August 1864. Despite severe damage to his ship and the loss of several men on board as enemy fire raked her decks from stem to stern, Davis exercised extreme courage and vigilance while acting as a look-out for torpedoes and other obstructions throughout the furious battle which resulted in the surrender of the prize rebel ram Tennessee and in the damaging and destruction of batteries at Fort Morgan.