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Congressional Gold Medal Recipients
George Washington DeLong George Washington DeLong b. New York City, New York, New York, 22 August 1844
d. Lena delta, near Mat Vay, Yakutsk, Siberia, 30 or 31 October 1881 Charles Winans Chipp b.
d. Laptev Sea, near Ostrov Stolbovey, Siberia, 12? September 1881 George Wallace Melville b. New York City, New York, New York, 30 July 1841
d. Philadelphia, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, 17 March 1912 John Wilson Danenhower b. Chicago, Cook, Illinois, 30 September 1849
d. Annapolis, Ann Arundel, Maryland, 20 April 1887 James Markham Ambler b. Fauquier County, Virginia, 30 December 1848
d. Lena delta, near Mat Vay, Yakutsk, Siberia, 30 or 31 October 1881 Raymond Lee Newcomb b. Salem, Essex, Massachusetts, 31 December 1849
d. Salem, Essex, Massachusetts, 1918 William Dunbar b.
d. Laptev Sea, near Ostrov Stolbovey, Siberia, 12? September 1881 Jerome Janus Collins b. County Cork, Ireland, 17 October 1841
d. Lena delta, near Mat Vay, Yakutsk, Siberia, 30 October 1881
Tuesday, 30 September 1890 An act in recognition of the merits and services of Chief Engineer George Wallace Melville, United States Navy, and of the other officers and men of the Jeannette Arctic Expedition. Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, That the President be, and hereby is, authorized, by and with the advice and consent of the Senate, to advance Chief Engineer George Wallace Melville, United States Navy, one grade, to take rank from the same date but next after the junior chief engineer having the relative rank of commander at the passage of this act, as a recognition of his meritorious services in successfully directing the party under his command after the wreck of the Arctic exploring steamer Jeannette, and of his persistent efforts through dangers and hardships to find and assist his commanding officer and other members of the expedition before he himself was out of peril; and that he be allowed the pay of a chief engineer as if he had been commissioned on the same date as the junior chief engineer having the relative rank of commander at the passage of this act; such increased rate of pay to begin from the date of the passage of this act. SEC. 2. That the said Melville shall hereafter continue to be next junior to the junior chief engineer having the relative rank of commander at the passage of this act; and whatever grade he may hereafter occupy shall be increased by one number, but the total number of chief engineers shall not be increased: Provided, That nothing in this act shall cause any officer to be retarded in his promotion or receive a less rate of pay than would otherwise have been the case. SEC. 3. That suitable medals be struck at the United States Mint in commemoration of the perils encountered by the officers and men of the said Jeannette Arctic Expedition, and as an expression of the high esteem in which Congress holds their services in the said expedition; and that one of the said medals be presented to each of the survivors of said expedition, and one to the heirs of each of the deceased members.
SEC. 4. That a sufficient sum for the purposes of this act is hereby appropriated out of any money in the Treasury not otherwise appropriated. 26 Stat. 552-553
George Wallace Melville Engineer, born in New York city, 10 January, 1841. He was educated in his native city, and entered the United States navy in July, 1861, as third assistant engineer, with rank of midshipman, and has passed through all the intermediate grades to that of chief engineer, with the rank of lieutenant-commander, which he attained in 1881: He was engineer of the "Jeannette," which sailed from San Francisco, 8 July, 1879, under the command of Lieutenant George W. De Long (q. v.), with the object of discovering an "-opening to the supposed polar sea by a northeast passage near Wrangel land. After the sinking of the "Jeannette," 13 June, 1881, Engineer Melville accompanied De Long over the ice to Bennett island, and after the party divided, Lieutenant John W. Danenhower being disabled, commanded one of the "Jeannette's" boats on the subsequent perilous passage to one of the eastern mouths of the Lena delta, which was reached on 17 September, 1881. He now searched for Lieutenant De Long and his party, and discovered some of the huts where De Long had stayed, and obtained from the natives certain of his records. In the following spring Melville explored the delta thoroughly for traces of the missing party, and about the end of March the remains of De Long and his eleven companions were found. Melville subsequently returned to the United States, and was appointed chief of the bureau of steam-engineers, with the rank of commodore, 8 August, 1887, and engineer-in-chief of the United States navy. He is the author of "In the Lena Delta," (Boston, 1885).
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Articles & Breifings
