Robert B. Wood

Branch

U.S. Navy

Era

Civil War

Home state

Ohio

Action

USS Minnesota

The citation

Official citation

Attached to the U.S.S. Minnesota and temporarily serving on the U.S.S. Mount Washington, during action against the enemy in the Nansemond River, 14 April 1863. When the U.S.S. Mount Washington drifted against the bank and all men were driven from the decks by escaping steam following several successive hits which struck her boilers and stopped her engines, Wood boarded the stricken vessel and, despite a strike on the head by a spent ball, continued at his gun for 6 hours as fierce artillery and musketry continued to rake her decks.

Sources

• U.S. Army Medal of Honor citation index
• Wikipedia. Linked only. The article text is not copied here.