Henry C. Nields was an officer in the United States Navy

United States Navy

The United States Navy is the naval warfare service branch of the United States Armed Forces and one of the seven uniformed services of the United States. The U.S. Navy is the largest in the world; its battle fleet tonnage is greater than that of the next 13 largest navies combined. The U.S...

 during the American 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...

.

Nields was appointed Mate on 11 February 1863 and Acting Ensign on 11 July 1864. Assigned to Metacomet

USS Metacomet (1863)

The second USS Metacomet was a wooden sidewheel steamer in the United States Navy during the American Civil War. The ship was named for Metacomet, a war chief of the Wampanoag Indians....

, he earned Admiral David G. Farragut's praise for his part in the rescue of survivors from Tecumseh

USS Tecumseh (1863)

The first USS Tecumseh was an iron-hulled, single-turret monitor in the United States Navy during the American Civil War.Tecumseh was launched on 12 September 1863 at Jersey City, New Jersey, by Secor and Company,of New York City; and was commissioned at the New York Navy Yard on 19 April 1864,...

 after that monitor

Monitor (warship)

A monitor was a class of relatively small warship which was neither fast nor strongly armoured but carried disproportionately large guns. They were used by some navies from the 1860s until the end of World War II, and saw their final use by the United States Navy during the Vietnam War.The monitors...

 had gone down, mined within 600 yards of Confederate

Confederate States of America

The Confederate States of America was a government set up from 1861 to 1865 by 11 Southern slave states of the United States of America that had declared their secession from the U.S...

 guns during the Battle of Mobile Bay

Battle of Mobile Bay

The Battle of Mobile Bay of August 5, 1864, was an engagement of the American Civil War in which a Federal fleet commanded by Rear Adm. David G. Farragut, assisted by a contingent of soldiers, attacked a smaller Confederate fleet led by Adm...

. Nields and his boat crew saved one officer, eight enlisted men, and Tecumseh's pilot, braving “one of the most galling fires” that Farragut had ever seen.

Advanced to the rank of Lieutenant Commander on 1 July 1870, Nields died on 13 December 1880.

USS Nields (DD-616)

USS Nields (DD-616)

USS Nields was a Benson-class destroyer in the United States Navy during World War II. She was named for Lieutenant Commander Henry C. Nields....

was named for him.