American Civil War Medal of Honor Recipient. An Irish immigrant, he was issued the award on November 12, 1891 for his actions as an ordinary seaman on US Navy Rear Admiral David Farragut's flagship, the USS Hartford, on August 5, 1864, at the Battle of Mobile Bay, Alabama. His Medal of Honor citation reads: "On board the flagship, U.S.S. Hartford, during action against rebel forts and gunboats and with the ram Tennessee in Mobile Bay, 5 August 1864. Despite damage to his ship and the loss of several men on board as enemy fire raked her decks, Diggins, as loader of a gun, remained steadfast as his post throughout the furious 2-hour battle which resulted in the surrender of the rebel ram Tennessee and in the damaging and destruction of batteries at Fort Morgan."
American Civil War Medal of Honor Recipient. An Irish immigrant, he was issued the award on November 12, 1891 for his actions as an ordinary seaman on US Navy Rear Admiral David Farragut's flagship, the USS Hartford, on August 5, 1864, at the Battle of Mobile Bay, Alabama. His Medal of Honor citation reads: "On board the flagship, U.S.S. Hartford, during action against rebel forts and gunboats and with the ram Tennessee in Mobile Bay, 5 August 1864. Despite damage to his ship and the loss of several men on board as enemy fire raked her decks, Diggins, as loader of a gun, remained steadfast as his post throughout the furious 2-hour battle which resulted in the surrender of the rebel ram Tennessee and in the damaging and destruction of batteries at Fort Morgan."
Bio by: William Bjornstad
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