As Davis was a gunner's mate, and supposed to be somewhat familiar with a gunner's duty, this appointment was considered the best and most substantial way of rewarding him. The Flag-Officer was also directed to educate him for his new position in case he is not now fully qualified, as appears by the following letter:
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A Heroic Sailor.--When the record of the war comes to be written, not the least interesting<*>ture of it will be the heroic deeds of the humble men who compose the rank and file of the army and navy.
Instances of individual heroism and self-sacrifice are already presenting themselves in abundance, and when the conflict is happily ended, will furnish a rich harvest of materials for the annalist and historian.
One of the most conspicuous of these in any chronicle of the war must be the case of the gallant tar, John Davis, whose courage in the attack on Elizabath City, N. C., is made the subject of special mention by his immediate commander and by Commodore Goldsborough, who thus unite to make manifest the bond of true chivalry, which binds together all brave men, however widely separated their station.
The following is the story of this brave sailor:
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“Lieut. J. C. Chapin, commanding United States steamer Valley City, off Roanoke Island, writes to Commodore Goldsborough, under date of February twenty-fifth, noticing a magnanimous act of bravery by John Davis, gunner's mate on board his vessel, at the taking of Elizabeth City.
He says John Davis was at his station during the action, in the magazine, issuing powder, when a shell from the enemy's battery penetrated into the magazine and exploded outside of it. He threw himself over a barrel of powder, protecting it with his own body from the fire, while at the same time passing out the powder for the guns.
Commodore Goldsborough, in transmitting this letter to the Navy Department, says, ‘It affords me infinite pleasure to forward this communication to the Navy Department, to whose especial consideration I beg leave to recommend the gallant and noble sailor alluded to;’ and he adds, in a postscript, ‘Davis actually seated himself on the barrel, the top being out, and in this position he remained until the flames were extinguished.’
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The Navy Department promptly rewarded John Davis, the brave sailor, who so courageously protected from the flames a barrel of gunpowder on the steamer Valley City during the attack upon Elizabeth City.
He was a gunner's mate, receiving a salary of twenty-five dollars per month, or three hundred dollars per year.
The evidence of his bravery was received at the Navy Department on the evening of the tenth instant, and on the next day Secretary Welles sent him the following letter, appointing him a gunner, an office which carries with it a salary of one thousand dollars per year, and is a life appointment, the salary increasing by length of service to one thousand four hundred and fifty dollars:
Van Nostrand. New York, New York. 1862.
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