DOB/DOD: November 6, 1844 (Oldcastle, County Meath, Ireland) – October 2, 1929 (Port Chester, NY); 84 years old
MARITAL STATUS: Married to Catherine S. Simcox (1857-1923).
CHILDREN: Five sons, Thomas G. (1872-?), Arthur L. (1880-1891), Gerald G. (1880-1943), Alfred E. (1888-1942), and Lester C. (1898-1986). Eight daughters, Minnie (1874-1930), Florence E. (1876-?), Agnes G. Fox Gagan (1880-?), Frances C. (1881-?), Olivia (1886-?), Isabelle Fox Nugent (1887-?), Viola G. (1891-?), and Vera (1893-?).
ENLISTMENT: Mustered into Company H, 28th Connecticut Infantry, on November 15, 1862, in New Haven, Connecticut.
DISCHARGE: Mustered out of the 28th Connecticut Infantry on August 28, 1863, in New Haven, Connecticut.
ENLISTMENT 2: Enlisted in Company F, 22nd New York Cavalry, on April 5, 1865.
DISCHARGE 2: Mustered out on August 1, 1865, at Winchester, Virginia.
FAMILY: Born to Patrick (1798-1887) and Catherine Gibney Fox (1818-1891). Six brothers, John (1844-1930), Luke (1846-1921), Conrad (1852-1922), Patrick (1856-1892), Thomas (1859-1931), and James C. (1861-1931). Three sisters, Anne Fox Finn (1848-1929), Julia Fox Higgins (1851-1911), Margaret Fox Dorsey (1854-1922),
MEDAL OF HONOR CITATION
AWARDED FOR ACTIONS DURING: Civil War
BRANCH OF SERVICE: Army
UNIT: Company H, 28th Connecticut Infantry
DATE OF ISSUE AND PRESENTATION: April 1, 1898 (35 years later)
AGE ON THE DAY OF THE EVENT: 18
CITATION:
The President of the United States of America, in the name of Congress, takes pleasure in presenting the Medal of Honor to Private Nicholas Fox, United States Army, for extraordinary heroism on 14 June 1863, while serving with Company H, 28th Connecticut Infantry, in action at Port Hudson, Louisiana. Private Fox made two trips across an open space in the face of the enemy’s concentrated fire and secured water for the sick and wounded.
From The Port Chester Journal April 7, 1898
NICHOLAS FOX HONORED
He Was a Brave Soldier Under Rebel Fire
In these times of agitation and war, removed from the piping times of peace, it is most pleasurable to recall the heroic act of a Port Chester resident and the tardy acknowledgment of the government of the United States. Nearly 35 years ago, Nicholas Fox, our fellow citizen of North Main Street, Past Commander of Charles Lawrence Post No. 378 Grand Army of the Republic, and for many years, one of the Superintendents of the Russell, Burdsall & Ward factory at Pemberwick, almost gave up his life that he might alleviate the sufferings of comrades and preserve their lives.
The story of Mr. Fox’s valor forms a chapter of much interest. Like the brave boys who responded to their country’s call, Mr. Fox, in the early sixties, joined Company H, 28th Regiment, Connecticut Infantry. It was the lot of his company in 1863 to be a part of the army that was selected to force the surrender of Port Hudson, Louisiana, or capture it by assault. The mere statement of facts can hardly convey what the undertaking was. Port Hudson, like Vicksburg, was a Sebastopol. It was a fortified town on a high bluff overlooking the Mississippi River, and the army of invasion was forced to fight their way up a steep declivity with the furious fire of the enemy falling like a hurricane of lead and iron in their faces. On June 14, 1863, was made one of the gallant attacks on Port Hudson, and the Union Army was repulsed with severe consequences. Many of the boys of the 28th Connecticut Infantry fell in that charge, and some of them were badly wounded and laid between the rebel fortifications and the redoubts where the besieging Federal soldiers were. The day was one of those sultry, burning days only found in the South, and the suffering of the Federal wounded under rebel guns was frightful. The cries of the unfortunates were heart-rending. Several parties were formed and made an effort to relieve their comrades, but almost as fast as they crossed the Union fortification, they were shot and killed by rebel sharpshooters. This necessarily made a few of the boys anxious to try to relieve their unfortunate comrades. Yet after the deadly bullets had worked such havoc, Private Nicholas Fox volunteered to go to the rescue of the wounded. Securing all the canteens he could find, he filled them with water, and weight down almost beyond his capacity, he made a dash for the field where lay the wounded, and though he twice repeated the daring errand, he escaped unhurt, In his work, Mr. Fox was also able to save the life of Colonel Payne, whom he found in the dangerous ground seriously wounded and was able later to lead a rescuing party to the officer’s relief.
From an Act of Congress passed in 1863, Mr. Fox was entitled to a medal for bravery because his act of heroism had been publicly announced in the order of the General of his Brigade. A sense of delicacy prevented Mr. Fox from obtaining the medal that was his due, though finally importuned by friends and relatives, he made an application, according to the Act of Congress before alluded to, for a medal of merit. The application was first intended to be placed in the hands of ex-Congressman Fairchild, but after consuming considerable time, the application was given to Congressman Ward. The matter dragging, Mr. Fox thought it more proper that the application should be placed in the hand of Congressman Hill of Connecticut, from whose District Mr. Fox had enlisted. The Connecticut Congressman was not long in securing Mr. Fox what the Government had promised all those who had distinguished themselves in the service.
On March 23, 1898, Mr. Fox received the following communication:
SUBJECT: — Medal of Honor.
WAR DEPARTMENT
WASHINGTON
File No. – R. & P. 608,474 March 22, 1898
Mr. Nicholas Fox, Port Chester, N.Y.
Sir: —
You are hereby notified that by direction of the President and under the provisions of the Act of Congress approved March 3, 1863, providing for the presentation of Medals of Honor to such officers, non-commissioned officers, and privates a have most distinguished themselves in action, A CONGRESSIONAL MEDAL OF HONOR has this day been presented to you for MOST DISTINGUISHED GALLANTRY in action, the following being a statement of the particular service, viz:
“At Port Hudson, Louisiana, June 15, 1863, this soldier, then a private in Company H, 28th Connecticut Volunteers, participated in the assault on the enemy’s works, but the troops were repulsed, leaving between the lines many wounded who were helpless and exposed to the enemy’s fire and the heat of the sun. After several men had been killed in attempting to relieve the sufferings of the wounded, Fox volunteered to carry water to them and, loading himself with canteens, made two trips in plain view and under the hot fire of the enemy, his act being praised at the time by his brigade commander.”
The medal will be forwarded to you by registered mail as soon as it shall have been engraved.
Respectfully,
R.A. ALGER
Secretary of War.”
Saturday afternoon, the medal, a handsome bronze affair made by Tiffany, reached Mr. Fox. It is a five-pointed star about two inches from one extreme point to another and is dependent from a bar and attached to a ribbon of the national colors, but consisting of a narrow white stripe in the center, with a broad blue stripe each side of the white, and red stripes of equal width with the blue on the outside. The ribbon, descending from the bar, is about one inch wide. The bar is a shield. In the center of the two ornate corners, with laurel branches on each side of the shield. An eagle with outstretched wings, having in its talons two unmounted guns and a pyramid of balls, surmounts the star, which has two figures on its face, on an ideal picture of the Goddess of Mercy, with a shield in her arm extended over the half prostrate body of a man. Following in the inscription on the reverse of the medal:
THE CONGRESS TO
PRIVATE NICHOLAS FOX
Co. H., 28th Conn. Inf.
For GALLANTRY at
Port Hudson, Louisiana; June 14, 1863.
It is fortunate that Mr. Fox is long-lived, or he might have never had the satisfaction of looking upon the medal and the autograph.
From The Daily Item (Port Chester, NY) October 4, 1929
AN EARNED TRIBUTE
If, by any chance, Port Chester, through its civic officials and patriotic organizations, failed to pay notable tribute to the late Nicholas Fox when his remains are carried to their last resting place tomorrow, then Port Chester will have cause for shame. Few men in all the history of this community have so deserved the respect and admiration of their fellows.
Nicholas Fox was a poor man – had been poor all his days. Nor was he a powerful man in the sense that he had been able, by affluence or position, to exact the fawning regard of his neighbors. In a word, there was nothing about him to exact tribute – but there was much about him which did and does deserve tribute. The extent of the symbolic respect which we pay him, dead, will be the measure of our community’s character.
A mere boy, not long since he arrived in this country from his native Old World country, he responded to the call of Lincoln for defenders of the Union. The spirit of American patriotism burned in his mind and heart. His surpassing bravery in devotion to his adopted flag won for him the highest honor which personal valor can win for an American – the Congressional Medal of Honor, conferred by an act of the national legislature and illuminated by the personal praise of the President of the United States. Only a handful of men in all the wars in all the history of the United States achieved such distinction. In spirit and example, therefore, Nicholas Fox was a truly great American.
But there is even more about the record of Nicholas Fox’s life to commend him to our esteem – in civilian life, he typified the homely virtues which have made this one of the most powerful nationals of all time. He married early and established a home and a family to which he gave unaltering loyalty until the moment of his death. He was intelligent and industrious in his daily toil and supremely loyal to his employers – for seventy-two years, almost three-quarters of a century. He was a dependable, valuable factor in a great industry, contributing to his usefulness in the scheme of American life. Citizens such as him determine and sustain the character of a nation.
True, Nicholas Fox has passed beyond the cognizance of worldly honors – there is now nothing Port Chester can do for him. The tribute we offer him now can have naught of value to him – but will have great value to us and to those who will come after him and us. Whether or not the native and naturalized Americans in Port Chester express their appreciation of the fundamental virtues Nicholas Fox possessed will decide for countless young people and for many older people new to the life and customs of this country whether or not they shall deem it worthwhile to emulate him.
Nicholas Fox deserves our tribute because he has earned it – he commands it because we, as patriots, are bound in the circumstances of our American citizenship to demonstrate our faith in and fealty to the essentials of patriotism for which he stood. When we cease to appreciate heroes, we shall have lost the characteristics which make heroes.
Buried in St. Mary’s Cemetery, 1 High Street, Rye Brook, New York; Section AA1, Range 3, Plot 1, Grave 1-5. Photos by Jeff DeWitt.
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