Bernard Harley (1842 - 1886)

Bernard Harley
Birth: 1842
Place of Birth: Brooklyn,
Home of record: New York,
Status: POW
Death: Jan. 15, 1886
Ordinary Seaman, U.S. Navy., US Picket Boat No. 1, 27 October 1864

Civil War Congressional Medal of Honor Recipient. He was a prisoner of war. He served as an Ordinary Seaman in the Union Navy. He was awarded the CMOH for action off Plymouth, North Carolina. His citation reads "Harley served on board the U.S. Picket Boat No. 1, in action, 27 October 1864, against the Confederate ram Albemarle, which had resisted repeated attacks by our steamers and had kept a large force of vessels employed in watching her. The picket boat, equipped with a spar torpedo, succeeded in passing the enemy picket within 20 yards without being discovered and then made for the Albemarle under a full head of steam, Immediately taken under fire by the ram, the small boat plunged on, jumped the log boom which encircled the target and exploded its torpedo under the port bow of the ram. The picket boat was destroyed by enemy fire and almost the entire crew taken prisoner or lost."

Medal of Honor Citation:

The President of the United States of America, in the name of Congress, takes pleasure in presenting the Medal of Honor to Ordinary Seaman Bernard Harley, United States New York New York Navy, for extraordinary heroism in action while serving on board the U.S. Picket Boat No. 1, in action near Plymouth, North Carolina, 27 October 1864, against the Confederate ram Albemarle, which had resisted repeated attacks by our steamers and had kept a large force of vessels employed in watching her. The picket boat, equipped with a spar torpedo, succeeded in passing the enemy pickets within 20 yards without being discovered and then made for the Albemarle under a full head of steam. Immediately taken under fire by the ram, the small boat plunged on, jumped the log boom which encircled the target and exploded its torpedo under the port bow of the ram. The picket boat was destroyed by enemy fire and almost the entire crew taken prisoner or lost.