Luke M. Griswold

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Luke M. Griswold
The USS Monitor sank in a storm off Cape Hatteras on the night of December 30, 1862. In the foreground a boat is taking off crewmen. The USS Rhode Island is in the background.
Born1837
Massachusetts
Died1892
Service/branchU.S. Navy
RankOrdinary Seaman
UnitU.S.S. Rhode Island
Battles/warsAmerican Civil War
AwardsMedal of Honor

Luke M. Griswold (1837 – 1892) was a sailor in the U.S Navy during the American Civil War. He received the Medal of Honor, the highest honor of the U.S. military.[1][2][3]

Biography[change | change source]

Luke M. Griswold was born in 1837 in Massachusetts. He joined the U.S. Navy from Springfield, Massachusetts, and served on the ship U.S.S. Rhode Island.[1] He died in 1892.[4]

On December 30, 1862, the ship U.S.S. Monitor went down in a storm near Cape Hatteras, North Carolina. The U.S.S. Rhode Island rescued the crew. After the rescue, Griswold's small boat was lost during the storm. The crew members spent many hours at sea before being picked up.[1]

Griswold's official Medal of Honor citation[2] reads:

Served on board the U.S.S. Rhode Island which was engaged in saving the lives of the officers and crew of the Monitor, 30 December 1862. Participating in the hazardous rescue of the officers and crew of the sinking Monitor, Griswold, after rescuing several of the men, became separated in a heavy gale with other members of the cutter that had set out from the Rhode Island, and spent many hours in the small boat at the mercy of the weather and high seas until finally picked up by a schooner 50 miles east of Cape Hatteras.

References[change | change source]

  1. 1.0 1.1 1.2 "Valor awards for Luke M. Griswold". Retrieved 19 February 2017.
  2. 2.0 2.1 History, U.S. Army Center of Military. "Medal of Honor Recipients - Civil War (G-L)". Archived from the original on 20 February 2017. Retrieved 19 February 2017.
  3. "CMOHS.org - Ordinary Seaman GRISWOLD, LUKE M., U.S. Navy". Retrieved 19 February 2017.
  4. "Civil War hero Luke M. Griswold of Springfield honored 121 years after his death". Retrieved 19 February 2017.