branch death_date birth_place allegiance unit awards placeofburial_label battles birth_date placeofburial rank article_title name
united states navy union navy 13 april 1907 rochester , new york united states of america union magnolia 1854 6 medal of honor place of burial american civil war battle of natural bridge 29 august 1843 yankton , south dakota landsman john s. lanning
 john s. lanning
john s. lanning

john s. lanning -lrb- august 29 , 1843 -- april 13 , 1907 -rrb- was a union navy sailor and a medal of honor recipient for his actions in the american civil war .
he served under the name john s. lann .
born on august 29 , 1843 , in rochester , new york , lanning enlisted in the 1st new york independent battery light artillery -lrb- july 1861 -rrb- and served with said battery until the battle of antietam -lrb- sept. 1862 -rrb- .
he was seriously injured in this battle and eventually sent home .
when he was recovered he tried to return to his group but was told that he was done , go home .
so he joined the navy under the name john s. lann , from that state .
by march 5 , 1865 , he was serving as a landsman on the .
on that day and the next , he accompanied a union army force during the battle of natural bridge near st. marks , florida .
he helped transport and fire a naval howitzer throughout the engagement despite heavy confederate fire .
for this action , he was awarded the medal of honor three months later , on june 22 , 1865 .
the medal was issued under the name he had enlisted with , john s. lann .
he was one of six sailors to receive the medal for manning artillery pieces during the battle , the others being seaman john mack , seaman george pyne , ordinary seaman charles read , coxswain george schutt , and seaman thomas smith .
lanning 's official medal of honor citation reads : as landsman on board the u.s.s. `` magnolia '' , st. marks , fla. , 5 and 6 march , lann served with the army in charge of navy howitzers during the attack on st. marks and throughout this fierce engagement made remarkable efforts in assisting transport of the gun .
his coolness and determination in standing by his gun while under the fire of the enemy were a credit to the service to which he belonged .
