b. 1843 Mobile, Alabama. d. 16/07/1868 Norfolk, Virginia.
DATE OF MOH ACTION: 27/10/1864 Plymouth, North Carolina.
Edward J Houghton MOH
Houghton was born in Mobile, Alabama in 1843. He served as an ordinary seaman in the U.S. Navy during the Civil War. He earned his Medal of Honor on October 27, 1864, whilst serving aboard U.S. Picket Boat No.1. Houghton died in Norfolk, Virginia on July 16, 1868, and is now buried in Holyhood Cemetery, Brookline, Massachusetts. In October 1890, Andy Houghton erected a monument to commemorate his father and brother Edward. The statue is a landmark at Holyhood and is approximately thirty feet tall.
MOH CITATION:
Houghton served on board the U.S. Picket Boat No. 1, in action, 27 October 1864, against the Confederate ram, Albemarle, which had resisted repeated attacks by our steamers and had kept a large force of vessels employed in watching her. The picket boat, equipped with a spar torpedo, succeeded in passing the enemy pickets within 20 yards without being discovered and then made for the Albemarle under a full head of steam. Immediately taken under fire by the ram, the small boat plunged on, jumped the log boom which encircled the target, and exploded its torpedo under the port bow of the ram. The picket boat was destroyed by enemy fire and almost the entire crew taken prisoner or lost.
BURIAL LOCATION: HOLYHOOD CEMETERY, BROOKLINE, MASSACHUSETTS.
MAINGNON AVENUE, ROW L.
LOCATION OF MEDAL: UNKNOWN.
