Little is known about Daniel Whitfield, a Newark native who received his al Medal of Honor for bravery during the Civil War.
There are numerous accounts, some accurate, others incomplete, about other Medal honorees who went into military service through New Jersey, giving the state credit for their heroism.
There are stories about another New Jerseyan, John O. Siegel who received his medal for action in Norfolk, Va. during World War I, but who was also charged more than once with AWOL, was given less than honorable discharges not once but twice, and abandoned his wife and family at some point in his career. After his military service and prison time for abandoning the service, he assumed a different name and twice applied for a duplicate of his Medal of Honor. Still, he was honored for the bravery he had shown at one point in his life.
For Quartermaster Whitfield, he was a Sailor in the Union Navy, born in 1821 in Newark and served aboard the USS Lackawanna during the Civil War. He was recognized for his bravery when the ship was at the Battle of Mobile Bay Aug. 5, 1864.
The Lackawanna was launched at the Brooklyn Navy Yard in August 1862, commissioned January 1863, and went almost immediately into the War under Rear Admiral William Farragut. to serve the Union along the Gulf Coast.
The ship captured the Confederate Neptune and the following day another steamer as part of Farragut’s successful conquest of Mobile Bay.
The Lackawanna rammed the Confederate ship, the Tennessee, the first of several actions which soon led to the Confederacy surrendering the ship and ending the Battle of Mobile Bay, closing the last major port for the Confederacy along the Gulf Coast.
US Naval History and Heritage Command photo # NH 1284.
Quartermaster Whitfield was serving as the captain of a gun on Aug. 5, 1864, aboard the Lackawanna, when he obeyed both instinct and orders by waiting to fire upon the Tennessee until his ship was alongside his ship.
The Sailor received the Medal of Honor Dec. 31, 1864, but little is known about his life after the end of the Civil War. It is not known when he died or where he is buried.
The Lackawanna continued to serve in the Gulf until returning to New York in June 1865. She was decommissioned July 20, 1865.
The citation
While serving as quartermaster on board the U.S.S. Lackawanna during successful attacks against Fort Morgan, rebel gunboats, and the rebel ram Tennessee in Mobile Bay, 5 August 1864. Acting as captain of a gun, Whitfield coolly stood by his gun, holding on to the lock string, and waited alongside the rebel ram Tennessee until able to fire the shot that entered her port. Whitfield courageously carried out his duties during the prolonged action which resulted in the capture of the prize ram Tennessee and in the damaging and destruction of Fort Morgan.
More Stories on the Medal of Honor and the Recipients HERE
