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Congressional Gold Medal.com |
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Congressional Gold Medal Recipients
George R. Lambert George R. Lambert Mr. Anthony Midshipman Fox Lieutenant Petit First Lieutenant Tarleton Charles Fraukland Henry Matson Louis F. Dubut Captain de Labedoyere Manuel de la Puente *
Wednesday, 3 March 1847 A Joint Resolution relative to the Preparation and Presentation of Medals to certain French, British, and Spanish Officers. Resolved by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, That the President of the United States is hereby authorized and requested to cause suitable gold and silver medals to be prepared and presented to the officers and men belonging or attached to the French, British, and Spanish ships-of-war in the harbor of Vera Cruz, who so gallantly, and at the imminent peril of their lives, aided in rescuing from a watery grave many of the officers and crew of the United States brig Somers. 9 Stat. 208 * Note that in the above resolution, there are no names indicated. According to CRS Report for Congress RL 30076, "[t]he records of the United States Mint indicate that 10 gold medals were struck" (21). According to S.Doc 43 of the Serial Set #494 dated 7 January 1847 entitled "Report of the Secretary of the Navy, in answer To a resolution of the Senate calling for information in relation to the loss of the United States brig Somers, and to the assistance rendered by the officers and crews of the French, Spanish, and British ships-of-war lying off Vera Cruz, in the rescue of the officers and crew of the Somers", there is a report sent by R. Semmes, Lieutenant in Command of the Somers that states "To Captain Lambert, of the English frigate "Endymion;" Captain Frankland, of the English corvette "Alarm;" Commander Matson, of the English brig "Daring;" Captain Dubut, of the French brig "Mercure;" Captain Labudoyaire, of the French brig "Pylade;" and Captain Puente, of the Spanish corvette "Louisa Fernandez;" who all sent boats and supplied us with clothing, and hospitably entertained us on board their ships, we owe a lasting debt of gratitude" (5). On pages 7 and 8 of that document are letters from M.C. Perry of the U.S. Navy to Captain George R. Lambert, Captain L.F. Dubut, and Don Manuel de la Puente all dated 9 December 1846. Therefore I would take under consideration that these 6 men got gold medals. The other 4 men's names come from The Times (London) dated 15 January 1847. On page 3, there is a report of the wreck. In it, there are statements about all of the 6 men already mentioned as well as "The First-Lieutenant of the Endymion, Mr. Tarleton, rescued the First-Lieutenant of the Somers from Pajarosreef, which he succeeded by a miracle in reaching safely, but where his situation was most critical" and also "I have also learned some more of the names of the officers of the foreign vessels who picked up our men in their boats, viz.:-- Lieutenant Petit, of the French brig Mercure, who commanded the whale-boat that went so adventurously to seaward and rescued ten men. Midshipman Fox, of the English brig Daring. Mr. Anthony, gunner of the Endymion". Since these are the only names known to me at this time, those are the names that will be put down. The Times got it's story from the New Orleans Picayune of 22 December 1846.
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