For jumping overboard from the U.S.S. Tennessee at New Orleans, La., 15 February 1881, and sustaining, until picked up by a boat's crew, N. P. Petersen, gunner's mate, who had fallen overboard.
Through education, leadership, and inspiring spaces for learning and reflection, the National Medal of Honor Museum Foundation preserves and expands the impact of the 3,517 awarded Medal of Honor recipients and the more than 40 million Americans who have served in the U.S. Armed Forces since the Civil War.