Henry Wilkes-Rensselaer, NY
Posted by: 
Don.Morfe
N 42° 39.474 W 073° 43.626
18T E 604326 N 4723611
Civil War Medal of Honor Recipient for action on board the U.S. Picket Boat No. 1 against the Confederate Ram Albemarle on October 27, 1864. He is buried in Beverwyck Cemetery, Rensselaer, NY.
Waymark Code: WM111EX
Location: New York, United States
Date Posted: 07/29/2019
Views: 3
He was born IN 1845 in Manhattan, NY and died on March 3, 1888 in Rensselaer, NY His Medal of Honor information and citation is: WILKES, HENRY
• Rank and organization: Landsman, U.S. Navy
• Accredited to: New York
• G.O. No.: 45, 31 December 1864
Citation: Wilkes served on board U.S. Picket Boat No. 1 in action, 27 October 1864, against the Confederate Ram, Albemarle, which had resisted repeated attacks by our steamers and had kept a large force of vessels employed in watching her. The picket boat, equipped with a spar torpedo, succeeded in passing the enemy pickets within 20 yards without being discovered and them made for the Albemarle under a full head of steam. Immediately taken under fire by the ram, the small boat plunged on, jumped the log boom which encircled the target and exploded its torpedo under the port bow of the ram. The picket boat was destroyed by enemy fire and almost the entire crew taken prisoner or lost.
Armed Service: Navy
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