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DEPARTMENT OF THE NAVY -- NAVAL HISTORICAL CENTER
805 KIDDER BREESE SE -- WASHINGTON NAVY YARD
WASHINGTON DC 20374-5060
Online Library of Selected Images:
-- PEOPLE -- UNITED STATES --
Ordinary Seaman Louis C. Shepard, USN, (1841-1919)
(Family name also spelled "Shepherd" in some sources)
Louis Capet Shepard was born in Ashtabula, Ohio on 2 September
1841. He served in the US Navy during the Civil War. On 15 January
1865, while serving on USS Wabash,
he participated in the land assault on Fort Fisher, North Carolina.
For his gallantry at that time, he was awarded the Medal
of Honor. Louis C. Shepard died on 2 September 1919 at Danbury,
Ohio.
This page features the only image we have concerning Louis
C. Shepard.
Click on the small photograph to prompt
a larger view of the same image.
Photo #: NH 79936
Ordinary Seaman Louis C. Shepard, USN
(family name also spelled Shepherd)
Halftone reproduction of a photograph, published in "Deeds
of Valor", Volume II, page 80, by the Perrien-Keydel Company,
Detroit, 1907.
A member of USS Wabash's crew, Louis C. Shepard was awarded
the Medal of Honor for his gallant role in the 15 January 1865
land assault on Fort Fisher.
US Naval Historical Center Photograph.
Online Image: 51KB; 585 x 765 pixels |
 |
Medal of Honor citation of Seaman Louis C. Shepard (as
printed in the official publication "Medal of Honor, 1861-1949,
The Navy", page 47):
"Served as seaman on board the U.S.S. Wabash
in the assault on Fort Fisher, 15 January 1865. Advancing gallantly
through severe enemy fire while armed only with a revolver and
cutlass which made it impossible to return the fire at that range,
SHEPARD succeeded in reaching the angle of the fort and in going
on, to be one of the few who entered the fort. When the rest
of the body of men to his rear were forced to retreat under a
devastating fire, he was forced to withdraw through lack of support
and to seek the shelter of one of the mounds near the stockade
from which point he succeeded in regaining the safety of his
ship." |
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Page made 13 March 2006