Thomas Jenkins ( Medal of Honor ) Thomas Jenkins was a Union Navy sailor in the American Civil War and a recipient of the United States military ' s highest decoration , the Medal of Honor , for his actions during the Siege of Vicksburg . He was awarded the medal for rescuing his crewmates during the sinking of his ship , the , in the Mississippi River . Under heavy fire from a Confederate artillery battery , Jenkins and three other men swam back and forth between the riverbank and the sinking ship , helping crewmen who could not swim reach shore . The four men then towed a small boat , carrying wounded sailors and the ship ' s commander , to the safety of Union forces . Biography . Jenkins was born in Australia in 1831 , and later immigrated to the United States , enlisting in the US Navy from New York in 1861 . During the Civil War , Jenkins served as a seaman on the ironclad USS " Cincinnati " . On May 27 , 1863 , during the Siege of Vicksburg , Mississippi , the " Cincinnati " was ordered to steam down the Mississippi River and destroy two Confederate artillery guns which were impeding the advance of General William Tecumseh Sherman ' s right flank . Between the " Cincinnati " and the two guns was a Confederate eleven - piece heavy artillery battery which , from its position atop a bluff , had command over that entire stretch of the river . The Union forces had been aware of the battery , but , shortly before the " Cincinnati " received its orders , the battery had disappeared and was assumed to have been moved elsewhere . Unbeknown to them , the battery ' s guns had been removed from view by simply lowering them from their carriages , both to protect them from the fire of ships on the river and to deceive the Union forces . The commander of the battery had discovered the Union signal code , and when he intercepted a message describing the " Cincinnati " ' s mission , he had the guns re - assembled during the night and concealed them in brush . On the morning of May 27 , the " Cincinnati " headed downstream and reached its target , the two artillery guns . Just as it fired its first shots , the hidden battery on the bluff also opened fire , completely surprising the Union ship . The first Confederate shell scored a direct hit , passing through " Cincinnati ' s " magazine and exiting through the bottom of the ship . Another shell disabled the ship ' s steering mechanism . The " Cincinnati ' s " own guns could not be elevated enough to return fire on the high battery . Knowing his ship was doomed , the commander , Lieutenant George M . Bache , headed the " Cincinnati " full - steam back up the river in search of a place on which to beach the ship . A suitable spot being found , the " Cincinnati " was run aground , a hawser tied to a tree , and gangplank laid out . Before the men could evacuate , the hawser came loose and the ship slipped from the bank out into the river , where it began to sink in about of water . Many of the crew , including the commander , could not swim ; those who could , including Jenkins , began to abandon ship . Still under intense fire , Jenkins and three others , Landsman Thomas E . Corcoran , Boatswain ' s Mate Henry Dow , and Seaman Martin McHugh , swam back and forth , helping their crewmates to shore . They then reboarded the " Cincinnati " , hastily repaired a small boat which had been damaged by the Confederate fire , and loaded it with men who were too badly wounded to be dragged through the water . After Lieutenant Bache also climbed into the boat , they towed it to the safety of a Union flotilla . For these actions , Jenkins was awarded the Medal of Honor a month and a half later , on July 10 , 1863 . The other three swimmers , Corcoran , Dow , and McHugh , and two more " Cincinnati " crewmen also received the medal for their part in the action . He was medically discharged on Christmas Day , 1863 . On August 21 , 2009 , the Federal Bureau of Investigation ( FBI ) donated Jenkins ' medal to the Congressional Medal of Honor Museum , located on the museum ship at Patriot ' s Point , Mount Pleasant , South Carolina . The FBI came into possession of the medal when it was confiscated during an investigation into stolen and counterfeit Medals of Honor . Medal of Honor citation . Citation : Served on board the U . S . S . " Cincinnati " during the attack on the Vicksburg batteries and at the time of her sinking , 27 May 1863 . Engaging the enemy in a fierce battle , the " Cincinnati " , amidst an incessant fire of shot and shell , continued to fire her guns to the last , though so penetrated by shell fire that her fate was sealed . Serving bravely during this action , Jenkins was conspicuously cool under the fire of the enemy , never ceasing to fight until this proud ship went down , " her colors nailed to the mast . "