Congressional Medal of Honor Society
Stories of Sacrifice
U.S. Civil War - U.S. Navy
Louis Capet Shepard
Details
- Also Known As: Shepard, Lewis C.
- Rank: Ordinary Seaman
- Conflict/Era: U.S. Civil War
- Unit/Command:
U.S.S. Wabash - Military Service Branch: U.S. Navy
- Medal of Honor Action Date: January 15, 1865
- Medal of Honor Action Place: Fort Fisher, North Carolina, USA
Citation
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.
Additional Details
- Accredited to: Ohio
- Awarded Posthumously: No
- Born: September 2, 1841, Ashtabula, Ashtabula County, OH, United States
- Died: April 27, 1919, Danbury, OH, United States
- Buried: Lakeview Cemetery (F-10), Port Clinton, OH, United States