Peter Williams

Peter Williams was a Civil War Medal of Honor awardee.

He served in the Union Navy from July 30, 1861 until his death on May 31, 1863.

Citation

The President of the United States of America, in the name of Congress, takes pleasure in presenting the Medal of Honor to Seaman Peter Williams, United States Navy, for extraordinary heroism in action while serving on board the U.S.S. Ironclad Steamer Monitor, Hampton Roads, Virginia, 9 March 1862. During the engagement between the U.S.S. Monitor and the C.S.S. Merrimack, Seaman Williams gallantly served throughout the engagement as Quartermaster, piloting the Monitor throughout the battle in which the Merrimack, after being damaged, retired from the scene of the battle.

General Orders: War Department, General Orders No. 11 (April 3, 1863)

Action Date: March 9, 1862

Service: Navy

Rank: Seaman

Division: U.S. Ironclad St Monitor

Links

• A discussion speculating that his nationality may have been mistaken.
• Find a Grave (source for death date). The record that is photographed here lists his service in the USN as 7/30/1861 to 5/31/1863 (died).

Researchable sources

The General Register of the Navy does not seem to list this man; the only one listed is one on page 776, with the description "Williams, Peter. Mate, 25 March, 1862. Acting Ensign, 10 .January, 1863. Honorably discharged 9 November, 1867." - which means that he joined after the action for which quartermaster Williams was honored.

There are 47 records in the familysearch.org Naval Rendezvous database, which need scanning. These refer to multiple persons. 3 records show a Norwegian: Born 1830, Born 1834, Born 1833.