branch birth_place allegiance unit awards placeofburial_label battles birth_date rank article_title name
united states navy boston , massachusetts united states lackawanna 1862 6 medal of honor place of burial american civil war battle of mobile bay 1831 captain of the forecastle john -rrb-
 smith -lrb- medal of honor , b. 1831 john smith
john smith -lrb- medal of honor , b. 1831 article_title_10:-rrb-

john smith -lrb- born 1831 , date of death unknown -rrb- 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 1831 in boston , massachusetts , smith was still living in that city when he joined the navy .
he served in the war as captain of the forecastle on the .
during the battle of mobile bay on august 5 , 1864 , `` lackawanna '' engaged the css `` tennessee '' at close range but smith , acting as a gun captain , found that his ship 's artillery could not be aimed low enough to hit the confederate ironclad .
the two ships were so close that a confederate sailor began shouting insults at `` lackawanna 's '' crew ; smith responded by throwing a holystone into one of `` tennessee 's '' portholes at him .
for his actions during the battle , smith was awarded the medal of honor months later , on december 31 , 1864 .
smith 's official medal of honor citation reads : on board the u.s.s. `` lackawanna '' during the successful attacks against fort morgan , rebel gunboats and the ram `` tennessee '' in mobile bay , 5 august 1864 .
serving as a gun captain and finding he could not depress his gun when alongside the rebel ironclad `` tennessee '' , smith threw a hand holystone into one of the ports at a rebel using abusive language against the crew of the ship .
he continued his daring action throughout the engagement which resulted in the capture of the prize ram `` tennessee '' and in the damaging and destruction of fort morgan .
