The President of the United States of America, in the name of Congress, takes pleasure in presenting the Medal of Honor to Corporal John Freeman Mackie, United States Marine Corps, for extraordinary heroism in action on board the U.S.S. Galena in the attack on Fort Darling at Drewry’s Bluff, James River, on 15 May 1862. As enemy shellfire raked the deck of his ship, Corporal Mackie fearlessly maintained his musket fire against the rifle pits along the shore and, when ordered to fill vacancies at guns caused by men wounded and killed in action, manned the weapon with skill and courage.