The President of the United States of America, in the name of Congress, takes pleasure in presenting the Medal of Honor to Coxswain Hugh Hamilton, United States Navy, for extraordinary heroism in action while serving on board the U.S.S. Richmond during action against rebel forts and gunboats and with the ram Tennessee in Mobile Bay, Alabama, 5 August 1864. Despite damage to his ship and the loss of several men on board as enemy fire raked her decks, Coxswain Hamilton performed his duties with skill and courage throughout the prolonged battle which resulted in the surrender of the rebel ram Tennessee and in the successful attacks carried out on Fort Morgan.