Andrew Jackson Tomlin was a United States Marine

United States Marine Corps

The United States Marine Corps is a branch of the United States Armed Forces responsible for providing power projection from the sea, using the mobility of the United States Navy to deliver combined-arms task forces rapidly. It is one of seven uniformed services of the United States...

 and a recipient of the American military's highest award - the Medal of Honor

Medal of Honor

The Medal of Honor is the highest military decoration awarded by the United States government. It is bestowed by the President, in the name of Congress, upon members of the United States Armed Forces who distinguish themselves through "conspicuous gallantry and intrepidity at the risk of his or her...

 - for his actions during the Second Battle of Fort Fisher

Second Battle of Fort Fisher

The Second Battle of Fort Fisher was a joint assault by Union Army and naval forces against Fort Fisher, outside Wilmington, North Carolina, near the end of the American Civil War...

 during the Civil War

American Civil War

The American Civil War was a civil war fought in the United States of America. In response to the election of Abraham Lincoln as President of the United States, 11 southern slave states declared their secession from the United States and formed the Confederate States of America ; the other 25...

.

Medal of Honor citation

Rank and Organization:

Corporal, U.S. Marine Corps. Born: 1844, Goshen, N.J. Accredited To: New Jersey. G.O. No.: 59, June 22, 1865.

Citation:

As corporal of the guard on board the during the assault on Fort Fisher

Second Battle of Fort Fisher

The Second Battle of Fort Fisher was a joint assault by Union Army and naval forces against Fort Fisher, outside Wilmington, North Carolina, near the end of the American Civil War...

, on January 15, 1865. As one of 200 Marines assembled to hold a line intrenchements it the rear of the fort which the enemy threatened to attack in force following a retreat in panic by more than two-thirds of the assaulting ground forces, Corporal Tomlin took position in line and remained until morning when relief troops arrived from the fort. When one of his comrades was struck down by enemy fire, he unhesitatingly advanced under a withering fire of musketry into an open plain close to the fort and assisted the wounded man to place of safety.

Post war

After the war, Tomlin returned to his home in New Jersey

New Jersey

New Jersey is a state in the Northeastern and Middle Atlantic regions of the United States. , its population was 8,791,894. It is bordered on the north and east by the state of New York, on the southeast and south by the Atlantic Ocean, on the west by Pennsylvania and on the southwest by Delaware...

 becoming commissioner of juries in 1880 and sheriff of Cape May

Cape May

Cape May is a peninsula and island ; the southern tip of the island is the southernmost point of the state of New Jersey, United States. It runs southwards from the New Jersey mainland, separating Delaware Bay from the Atlantic Ocean...

 County, New Jersey

New Jersey

New Jersey is a state in the Northeastern and Middle Atlantic regions of the United States. , its population was 8,791,894. It is bordered on the north and east by the state of New York, on the southeast and south by the Atlantic Ocean, on the west by Pennsylvania and on the southwest by Delaware...

 in 1895.

Tomlin died on November 1, 1906 and is buried in Goshen Methodist Cemetery, Goshen, New Jersey

Goshen, New Jersey

Goshen is an unincorporated community in Cape May County, New Jersey, United States . Route 47, also known as Delsea Drive, runs directly through the center of the community....

See also

• List of American Civil War Medal of Honor recipients: T–Z