Thomas Cripps

{{About|the Navy Medal of Honor recipient|the film historian of the same name|Thomas Cripps (film historian)}} {{Infobox military person |name= Thomas H. Cripps |birth_date= {{Birth date|1840|11|29}} |birth_place=Philadelphia, Pennsylvania |death_date= {{Death date and age|1906|12|4|1840|11|29}} |death_place=Philadelphia, Pennsylvania |burial_place= |burial_label= Place of burial |image=US Navy Medal of Honor (1862 original).png |image_size= 150 |caption=Civil War era Navy Medal of Honor |allegiance={{flag|United States of America}} |branch=25px United States Navy |service_years= |rank= Quartermaster |commands= |unit= |battles= American Civil War |awards= Medal of Honor |other_work= }} '''Thomas H. Cripps''' (November 29, 1840 – December 4, 1906) was a native of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania who was awarded the U.S. Medal of Honor during the American Civil War. While serving in the Union Navy as a quartermaster aboard the USS ''Richmond'', he operated one of that's ship's guns under heavy enemy fire for two hours during the Battle of Mobile Bay, Alabama on August 5, 1864, helping to damage the ''CSS Tennessee'' and destroy artillery batteries of the Confederate States Army at Fort Morgan, even as the enemy's shell and shot damaged his ship and killed several of his fellow crewmen. For those actions, he was awarded his nation's highest honor for bravery on December 31, 1864.<ref>"[http://www.cmohs.org/recipient-detail/307/cripps-thomas.php Cripps, Thomas]". Mt. Pleasant, South Carolina: Congressional Medal of Honor Society, retrieved online September 7, 2018.</ref>

==Formative years and early military service== Thomas H. Cripps was born on November 28, 1840, in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.<ref>"Thomas H. Cripps", in Death Certificates. Philadelphia, Pennsylvania: Philadelphia City Archives and Historical Society of Pennsylvania.</ref><ref>"Cripps, Thomas", Congressional Medal of Honor Society.</ref> He was just 14 years old when he first enlisted with the U.S. Navy on May 14, 1855. Assigned as a 3rd class apprentice on the USS ''Union'' from that time until June 5, he was then transferred to: the {{USS|North Carolina|1820|6}}, where he served until July 21, 1856: to the {{USS|Supply|1846|6}}, where he served until February 24, 1857; and to the USS ''North Carolina'', where he served as a 2nd class apprentice until March 26, 1857. From there, he was transferred again to: the USS ''Supply'', where he served until August 20, 1857.<ref>"[https://www.fold3.com/image/43450553 Treasury Department: Office of the Auditor for the Navy Department (Thomas Cripps, No. 7923, June 30, 1902)], in "Navy Survivors' Certificate" file (p. 32). Washington, D.C.: U.S. National Archives and Records Administration (via the Wikipedia Library partnership with Fold3; registration required).</ref> During this assignment, he was injured on duty. A letter submitted in support of his naval pension by the Office of the U.S. Surgeon General in 1902 described what happened:<ref>[https://www.fold3.com/image/43450585 Surgeon General's Letter to the U.S. Pension Bureau (regarding Thomas Cripps, dated July 12, 1902)], in "Navy Survivors' Certificates" file (p. 37). Washington, D.C.: U.S. National Archives and Records Administration (via the Wikipedia Library partnership with Fold3; registration required).</ref>

<blockquote>"SUPPLY:—<br> Admitted June 9, 1857. Vulnus laceratum (left hand).<br>

Medical Journal states: "Origin in the line of duty. The first finger of left hand jammed between rack while passing in ballast, in which act the fleshy part of the ball of the finger was torn off".<br>

Discharged June 30, 1857 to duty.</blockquote>

Next transferred to the USS ''North Carolina'', he served there until November 20, 1857, when he was transferred to the USS ''Supply'', where he served until he was honorably discharged on August 8, 1858.<ref>"Treasury Department: Office of the Auditor for the Navy Department (Thomas Cripps, No. 7923, June 30, 1902), in "Navy Survivors' Certificate" file, U.S. National Archives and Records Administration/Fold3.</ref>

==Civil War== In response to President Abraham Lincoln's call for volunteers to help preserve America's union following the fall of Fort Sumter to Confederate States Army troops in April 1861, Thomas H. Cripps re-enlisted for military service during the fall of that year.<ref>"Cripps, Thomas H.", in U.S. Census of Union Veterans and Widows of the Civil War (Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, 1890). Washington, D.C.: U.S. National Archives and Records Administration.</ref> According to service record summaries prepared for him by the U.S. Treasury Department in 1892 and 1898, Cripps enlisted on November 29, 1861, and was assigned as a seaman to the {{USS|Ohio|1820|6}} until December 3 when he was transferred to the {{USS|Princeton|1851|6}}, where he served until December 22, when he was transferred to the {{USS|Brooklyn|1858|6}}.<ref>"[https://www.fold3.com/image/43450544 Naval Service: Thomas Cripps]", in "Navy Survivors' Certificates" file: U.S. Treasury Department (p. 30). Washington, D.C.: U.S. National Archives and Records Administration (via the Wikipedia Library partnership with Fold3; registration required).</ref><ref>"[https://www.fold3.com/image/43450592 Treasury Department: Office of the Auditor for the Navy Department" (Thomas Cripps, September 24, 1898)], in "Navy Survivors' Certificates" file (p. 39). Washington, D.C.: U.S. National Archives and Records Administration (via the Wikipedia Library partnership with Fold3; registration required).</ref>

thumb|CSS ''Manassas'' attacking the USS ''Brooklyn'' during the Battle of Forts St. Philip and Jackson, April 1862. While serving aboard the USS ''Brooklyn'' in 1862, Cripps participated with his shipmates in the Union Navy's attacks on Fort St. Philip, Fort Jackson and the Chalmette batteries in Louisiana under the command of Admiral David Farragut from April 16 to 28. Also present for the resulting surrender of New Orleans to Union forces, he and his shipmates then also engaged with other Union forces in the attack on Vicksburg, Mississippi in late June and early July that same year.<ref>"Thomas Cripps". ''[https://books.google.com/books?id=sdgxAQAAMAAJ&dq=%22Thomas+Cripps%22+and+%22Medal+of+Honor%22&pg=PA29 Record of Medals of Honor Issued to the Officers and Enlisted Men of the United States Navy, Marine Corps and Coast Guard 1862-1917]'', p. 29. Washington, D.C.: Government Printing Office, 1917.</ref><ref>Kendall, John. ''History of New Orleans'': Chapter XV: "[https://penelope.uchicago.edu/Thayer/E/Gazetteer/Places/America/United_States/Louisiana/New_Orleans/_Texts/KENHNO/15*.html The Passage of the Forts]". Chicago, Illinois and New York, New York: The Lewis Publishing Company, 1922.</ref>

In September 1863, Cripps transferred to the {{USS|Richmond|1860|6}}. Still attached to Farragut's squadron, his ship and others from the Union Navy were subsequently ordered to initiate a blockade of Mobile, Alabama beginning November 1.<ref>"Thomas Cripps", in ''Record of Medals of Honor Issued to the Officers and Enlisted Men of the United States Navy, Marine Corps and Coast Guard 1862-1917''.</ref> Less than a year later, he performed the actions for which he would later be awarded the U.S. Medal of Honor. Quartermaster of the USS ''Richmond'', he captained a gun during the Battle of Mobile Bay during the morning of August 5, 1864 and,<ref>"Thomas Cripps", in ''Record of Medals of Honor Issued to the Officers and Enlisted Men of the United States Navy, Marine Corps and Coast Guard 1862-1917''.</ref> while under heavy enemy fire which damaged his ship and killed several of his fellow crewmen, displayed "coolness and good conduct" as he continued firing for two hours, helping to damage the ''CSS Tennessee'' and destroy the batteries at Fort Morgan.<ref>"Thomas Cripps", in "[http://woodlandsphila.org/notables/ Notable Residents of The Woodlands]". Philadelphia, Pennsylvania: The Woodlands Cemetery, retrieved online September 7, 2018.</ref>

Afterward, he and his Richmond shipmates continued to occupy Mobile Bay. Cripps was then honorably discharged from the U.S. Navy on November 30, 1864 (alternate discharge date November 1, 1865).<ref>"Naval Service: Thomas H. Cripps" (service summary by the U.S. Bureau of Pensions, dated June 7, 1892; p. 30 of Cripps' "Navy Survivors' Certificates" file), U.S. National Archvives.</ref><ref>"Cripps, Thomas H.", in U.S. Census of Union Veterans and Widows of the Civil War (1890).</ref>

==Post-war life== Following his honorable discharge from the U.S. Navy, Thomas Cripps returned home to Philadelphia, where, on May 16, 1866, he wed Mary Lattimer (1848–1891).<ref>[https://www.fold3.com/image/43450535 Affidavits submitted by Thomas H. Cripps to the Bureau of Pensions, U.S. Department of the Interior] (marriage and family data), in "Navy Survivors' Certificates" file (pp. 26, 28). Washington, D.C.: U.S. National Archives and Records Administration (via the Wikipedia Library partnership with Fold3; registration required).</ref> By 1880, he was working as a wagon driver and living with his wife, Mary, on Washington Avenue in Philadelphia.<ref>"Cripps, Thomas and Mary H", in U.S. Census (Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, 1880). Washington, D.C.: U.S. National Archives and Records Administration.</ref> Four years later, on July 5, 1884, their son Joseph H. Cripps was born.<ref>U.S. Pension Bureau affidavit by Thomas H. Cripps, in "Navy Survivors' Certificates" file, U.S. National Archives/Fold3.</ref>

Preceded in death by his wife in 1891, Cripps lived to see the turn of the century but, after developing pleurisy on October 1, 1906, succumbed from complications. Following his death in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania on December 4, 1906, he was laid to rest at The Woodlands Cemetery in Philadelphia on December 8.<ref>"Thomas H. Cripps", in Philadelphia City Death Certificates, Philadelphia City Archives and Historical Society of Pennsylvania.</ref><ref>"Thomas Cripps", in "Notable Residents of The Woodlands".</ref>

==Medal of Honor citation== Per General Order No. 45, issued by the U.S. War Department on December 31, 1864:

<blockquote>The President of the United States of America, in the name of Congress, takes pleasure in presenting the Medal of Honor to Quartermaster Thomas H. Cripps, United States Navy, for extraordinary heroism in action, serving as Captain of a gun on board the U.S.S. Richmond during action against rebel forts and gunboats and with the ram ''Tennessee'' in Mobile Bay, Alabama, August 5, 1864. Despite damage to his ship and the loss of several men on board as enemy fire raked her decks, Quartermaster Cripps fought his gun with skill and courage throughout a furious two-hour battle which resulted in the surrender of the rebel ram ''Tennessee'' and in the damaging and destruction of batteries at Fort Morgan.<ref>"[https://valor.militarytimes.com/hero/3003 Thomas H. Cripps]", in "The Hall of Valor Project", in ''Military Times''. Tysons, Virginia: Sightline Media Group, retrieved online September 6, 2010.</ref></blockquote>

==References== {{Reflist}}

==External links== * "[https://www.battlefields.org/learn/civil-war/battles/mobile-bay Battle of Mobile Bay]". Washington, D.C.: American Battlefield Trust, retrieved online September 7, 2018. * Kolakowsi, Christopher L. "[http://www.essentialcivilwarcurriculum.com/the-battle-of-mobile-bay.html The Battle of Mobile Bay]", in ''Essential Civil War Curriculum''. Blacksburg, Virginia: Virginia Center for Civil War Studies, retrieved online September 7, 2018. * "[https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/19498 Thomas Cripps]" (memorial and gravesite information). Salt Lake City, Utah: Find A Grave, retrieved online March 14, 2008.

{{DEFAULTSORT:Cripps, Thomas}} Category:1840 births Category:1906 deaths Category:Burials at The Woodlands Cemetery Category:Union navy sailors Category:United States Navy Medal of Honor recipients Category:Military personnel from Philadelphia Category:People of Pennsylvania in the American Civil War Category:American Civil War recipients of the Medal of Honor

Thomas Cripps

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