Fort Fisher Medal of Honor Winner Gets a Memorial

The May 26th Ashtabula (Ohio) Star Beacon had an article by Carl E. Feather about Ordinary Seaman Louis Shepard, who was born in Ashtabula September 2, 1841, and whose actions at Fort Fisher, NC, on January 15, 1865, got him a Medal of Honor.

The fort was captured after a six-hour battle in which at least 30 Medals of Honor were given. Shepard served on the USS Wabash and advanced with the Naval Column armed with just revolvers and cutlasses in the attack on the fort's northeast salient. Shepard, according to the Medal, reached the angle of the fort and was one of only a few who entered it. He only withdrew when the column retreated.

The memorial was dedicated on Memorial Day at Veterans Park on Main Street.

Shepard died April 27, 1919, at the age of 77.

Some Mighty Hard Fighting at Fisher. --Old B-Runner