serviceyears branch death_date birth_place allegiance unit awards placeofburial_label battles birth_date placeofburial rank article_title name
1861 - 1864 united states navy 12 july 1899 plymouth , massachusetts united states richmond 1860 6 medal of honor place of burial american philip battle of mobile bay civil war battle of forts jackson and st. 1837 october 6 plymouth , massachusetts coxswain james b. chandler
 james b. chandler
james b. chandler

james b. chandler -lrb- october 6 , 1837 -- july 12 , 1899 -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 .
chandler was born on october 6 , 1837 in plymouth , massachusetts .
joined the navy from boston in november 1861 for 3 years , and served during the civil war as a coxswain on the .
in the april 1862 battle of forts jackson and st. philip , `` richmond '' fought confederate ships in the mississippi and passed artillery batteries at chalmette , louisiana , leading to the capture of new orleans .
the ship then proceeded up the river and chandler participated in the passage of vicksburg , mississippi , in mid-1862 .
although recovering from illness , he `` rendered gallant service '' through heavy fire at the battle of mobile bay on august 5 , 1864 .
for this action , he was awarded the medal of honor four months later , on december 31 , 1864 .
chandler 's official medal of honor citation reads : on board the u.s.s. `` richmond '' during action against rebel forts and gunboats and with the ram `` tennessee '' in mobile bay , 5 august 1864 .
cool and courageous although he had just come off the sick list , chandler rendered gallant service throughout the prolonged action as his ship maintained accurate fire against fort morgan and ships of the confederacy despite extremely heavy return fire .
he participated in the actions at forts jackson and st. philip , with the chalmette batteries , at the surrender of new orleans and in the attacks on batteries below vicksburg .
chandler died on july 12 , 1899 , at age 61 and was buried in his birth city of plymouth , massachusetts .
