b. 17/12/1837 Magdeburg, Germany. d. 01/12/1919 Annapolis, Maryland.
DATE OF MOH ACTION: 13-15/01/1865 Fort Fisher, North Carolina.
Robert Summers MOH
He was born Robert Emil Sommers (later anglicized Summers). Summers volunteered for service in the U.S. Navy and was assigned to the Union sloop-of-war USS Ticonderoga (1862). His enlistment is credited to the state of New York.
On January 15, 1865, the North Carolina Confederate stronghold of Fort Fisher was taken by a combined Union storming party of sailors, marines, and soldiers under the command of Admiral David Dixon Porter and General Alfred Terry. Summers continued to serve in the Navy after the war. He was appointed to the Warrant Officer rank of Gunner on 11 November 1873 and was promoted to Chief Gunner on 3 March 1899. He retired, having reached the mandatory retirement age of 62, on 17 December 1899.
MOH CITATION:
Summers served on board the U.S.S. Ticonderoga in the attacks on Fort Fisher, 13 to 15 January 1865. The ship took position in the line of battle and maintained a well-directed fire upon the batteries to the left of the palisades during the initial phase of the engagement. Although several of the enemy’s shots fell over and around the vessel, the Ticonderoga fought her guns gallantly throughout three consecutive days of battle until the flag was planted on one of the strongest fortifications possessed by the rebels.
BURIAL LOCATION: US NAVAL ACADEMY CEMETERY, ANNAPOLIS, MARYLAND.
SECTION 5, LOT 0590.
LOCATION OF MEDAL: UNKNOWN.
