Hancock County, Maine Biographies

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Hancock County,
Maine

John F. Bickford

John F. Bickford (March 12, 1843 – April 28, 1927) received the Medal of Honor in the American Civil War. Bickford was born in Tremont, Maine.

Biography

Bickford was a Master's Mate in the United States Navy, on December 31, 1864, he "Served on board the USS Kearsarge (1861) when she destroyed the CSS Alabama off Cherbourg, France, June 19, 1864. Acting as the first loader of the pivot gun during this bitter engagement Bickford exhibited marked coolness and good conduct and was highly recommended for his gallantry under fire by his divisional officer".
John died on April 28, 1927. He is buried in Gloucester, Massachusetts.

Medal of Honor citation

Rank and organization: Captain of the Top, U.S. Navy. Born: 1843, Tremont, Maine. Accredited to: Maine. G.O. No.: 45, December 31, 1864.
Citation:
Served on board the U.S.S. Kearsarge when she destroyed the Alabama off Cherbourg, France, June 19, 1864. Acting as the first loader of the pivot gun during this bitter engagement Bickford exhibited marked coolness and good conduct and was highly recommended for his gallantry under fire by his divisional officer.

James Blunt

Blunt, James G., soldier, physician, was born in 1826 in Hancock County, Maine. In 1861 he entered the army as lieutenant-colonel in the third regiment Kansas volunteers. He commanded the cavalry in General James Lane's brigade; and in 1862 was promoted to brigadier-general. In 1862, in the battle of Old Fort Wayne, his Kansas and Cherokee troops routed the confederate forces at Maysville, on the western border of Arkansas. On Nov. 28 he attacked and defeated Marmaduke's forces at Cane Hill, Ark. On Dec. 7, 1862, he encountered and defeated, with the aid of General Herron, the confederates under Hindman at Prairie Grove. He died July 25, 1881 in Washington, D.C.

[ Source: Herringshaw’s National Library of American Biography: Contains Thirty-five Thousand Biographies of the Acknowledged Leaders of Life and Thought of the United States, by William Herringshaw, 1909 – Transcribed by Therman Kellar]