Robert Augustus Sweeney

Source: Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.
Robert Augustus Sweeney
USS Yantic
AwardsMedal of Honor (2)

Robert Augustus Sweeney (February 20, 1853 – December 19, 1890) was a sailor in the

African American, to receive the Medal of Honor
twice, both for peace-time actions.

Biography

Sweeney was born on February 20, 1853, on the Caribbean island of Montserrat.[1][2] In 1950, the Bureau of Naval Personnel, published the leather bound Medal of Honor: the Navy, 1861-1949, stating Sweeney had been born in Montreal, Canada but this was corrected by the 1995 Facts on File two volume work, Medal of Honor Recipients 1863-1994.[3]

US Navy service

Sweeney joined the Navy in

ordinary seaman on the USS Kearsarge. While Kearsarge was anchored in Hampton Roads on that day, Seaman E.M. Christoverson fell from a Jacob's ladder attached to the ship's lower boom and landed in the water. Christoverson's inability to swim, combined with a strong tidal current and rough seas, led to him quickly beginning to sink. Seeing this, Sweeney jumped overboard without hesitation and went to his aid. In his panic, Christoverson latched onto Sweeney and dragged him under the water. Sweeney was able to break free, but was grabbed and dragged under a second time. One of Kearsarge's officers, Cadet Midshipman John B. Bernadon, then dived into the water and swam to help the men. Together, Sweeney and Bernadon were able to keep Christoverson afloat and, once their shipmates had thrown them a rope, pulled him back aboard ship. For this action, Sweeney was awarded his first Medal of Honor six days later, on November 1.[5]

On the morning of December 20, 1883, the training ship

Queens, New York in an unknown grave.[1]

Medal of Honor citation

Sweeney's first citation reads:

Serving on board the U.S.S. Kearsarge, at Hampton Roads, Va., 26 October 1881, Sweeney jumped overboard and assisted in saving from drowning a shipmate who had fallen overboard into a strongly running tide.[4]

His second citation:

Serving on board the U.S.S. Jamestown, at the Navy Yard New York, 20 December 1883, Sweeney rescued from drowning A. A. George, who had fallen overboard from that vessel.[4]

See also

  • List of Medal of Honor recipients during Peacetime
  • List of African American Medal of Honor recipients

References

  1. ^ a b c George Lang; Raymond Collins; Gerard White. Medal of Honor Recipients 1863-1994, Facts on File, 1995, HB, 0 8160 3260 2, Vol 1, p. 330
  2. ^ "Only 1 in 2,105,263 earned 2 Medals of Honor!".
  3. ^ Medal of Honor: the Navy, 1861-1949, Bureau of Naval Personnel, 1950, leather bound hardback, 327 pp. The incorrect place of birth was repeated in the US Congress, Senate Committee on Labor and Public Welfare, Subcommittee on Veterans Affairs, Medal of Honor 1863-1963, 88th Cong., 2nd sess. (Washington: GPO, 1963) and subsequent updates by the Committee on Veterans Affairs in 1973 and 1979.
  4. ^ a b c "Medal of Honor recipients - Interim Awards, 1871–1898". Medal of Honor citations. United States Army Center of Military History. August 5, 2010. Retrieved September 10, 2010.
  5. ^ Hunt, William H.; George B. White (November 1, 1881). "General Order, No. 276". General Orders and Circulars Issued by the Navy Department (1863–1887). Washington, D.C.: United States Government Printing Office: 202–3. Retrieved September 10, 2010.
  6. ^ Ray Collins, 'The facts about Robert A. Sweeney', The Annals (Medal of Honor Historical Society), Vol 9, No. 2, December 1986, pp. 32-35
Retrieved from "https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Robert_Augustus_Sweeney&oldid=1179431372"