J. Henry Denig

Who was J. Henry Denig?

John Henry Denig was a United States Marine Corps sergeant serving aboard the USS Brooklyn during the American Civil War. He received the Medal of Honor for his actions in 1864 during the Battle of Mobile Bay.

Denig was born in York, Pennsylvania, on September 8, 1838. He joined the Marine Corps from Pennsylvania in 1861 and served as a sergeant on the USS Brooklyn during the Battle of Mobile Bay, Alabama. Mobile was the last Confederate-held port on the Gulf of Mexico east of the Mississippi River, and its capture would complete the Union blockade in the area. In the August 5, 1864, attack, Brooklyn engaged Fort Morgan and the CSS Tennessee . Throughout the two-hour battle, Denig fought "with skill courage", for which he was later awarded the Medal of Honor. Twenty-two of his shipmates also received the medal for their part in the battle, which ended with a Union victory.

Denig died of health complications at age 38 and was buried in York's Prospect Hill Cemetery. He is one of two Medal of Honor recipients interred in the cemetery, the other being Charles H. Ilgenfritz.