Medal of Honor Edition (April 24, 1862)
On April 24, 1862, during the furious Union bombardment of Forts Jackson and Saint Philip, the U.S.S. Owasco, a Unadilla class gunboat, was one of seven steamers assigned to Captain David D. Porter’s flotilla of twenty mortar-boats. (The flotilla was part of the navy’s West Gulf Blockading Squadron.) The steamers supplemented the high arcing mortar fire with flat trajectory fire against the Confederate fortifications. After two days of concentrated fire, to little effect, Flag-Officer David G. Farragut decided to run past the forts as the mortar flotilla kept up a heavy fire to distract the enemy gunners.
A native of Saratoga, New York, Edward Farrell was serving as Quartermaster on the U.S.S. Owasco during the battle. Farrell was stationed on the masthead and “observed and reported” the effect of the fire of the Union guns and for his “extraordinary heroism,” Farrell was awarded the Congressional Medal of Honor. Although the U.S. Army didn’t begin awarding the Medal of Honor until July 1862, a bill authorizing the U.S. Navy to begin awarding the medal "to be bestowed upon such petty officers, seamen, landsmen, and marines as shall most distinguish themselves by their gallantry in action” was passed in December 1861. The first twenty Medals of Honor were awarded after the Union victory at Forts Jackson and Saint Philip.
Medal of Honor
AWARDED FOR ACTIONS DURING: Civil War
Service: Navy
Division: U.S.S. Owasco
CITATION: The President of the United States of America, in the name of Congress, takes pleasure in presenting the Medal of Honor to Quartermaster Edward Farrell, United States Navy, for extraordinary heroism in action while serving on board the U.S.S. Owasco during the attack upon Forts Jackson and St. Philip, Louisiana, 24 April 1862. Stationed at the masthead during these operations, Quartermaster Farrell observed and reported the effect of the fire of our guns in such a manner as to make his intelligence, coolness and capacity conspicuous.
Postscript
Edward Farrell suffered from health issues throughout his adult life and had at least six separate enlistments in the U.S. Navy that were interrupted by ill health. His first enlistment was in July 1855 in New York City and he served on the U.S.S. North Carolina and the U.S.S. Saratoga before being discharged in January 1858. He enlisted again three months later, and served again on the North Carolina and the U.S.S. Ohio. After his service as Quartermaster aboard the U.S.S. Owasco, he was diagnosed with “pulmonary phthisis” (tuberculosis), hospitalized and discharged. He re-enlisted several more times until his final hospitalization in 1871 ended his naval career.
Farrell eventually settled in Edinburg, Ohio, and married Nancy Farrell (who had eight grown children from a previous marriage) in 1882. During this time, he listed his occupation as a moulder, “indicating he made molds for bricks or iron casting.” Four years later, Farrell applied for a veteran’s pension, testifying that he “hasn't been able to perform more than half a day's manual labor [despite] being under the care of a physician." In February 1902, Farrell filed a surgeon’s certificate hoping for an increase of his $30 monthly pension. The doctor listed Farrell as being 5 feet, 10 inches tall and weighing only 90 pounds. He had tuberculosis in both lungs and chronic rheumatism, making him totally unable to support himself and his wife. He died a month later at the age of 71 of “tuberculosis and rheumatism,”, and a small obituary appeared in the local paper, noting that was "a great sufferer for years.” Nancy Farrell, also in poor health, returned to Pennsylvania with her children and died a week later.
Edward Farrell’s final resting place, “an unmarked pauper's grave,” in the Edinburg Cemetery was forgotten and lost for decades until 2011, when the Medal of Honor Historical Society inquired about the location of his burial site. Fortunately, a local genealogist found a listing for Edward Farrell as “ No. 14” on a handwritten list of civil war soldiers that was “filed away at the county historical society.” In May 2013, Farrell was given a proper military ceremony and an official headstone to recognize the Medal of Honor recipient.