Belated Honors for a Hero
Not all who served in the Union forces during the Civil War were US citizens. It’s estimated that roughly 1/3 of those who fought in the Union Army were immigrants. It’s also estimated that close to 10% of Union soldiers were Black.
Joseph Benjamin Noil was both an immigrant and Black.
Noil was an immigrant from Canada – though precisely when he immigrated is unclear. He enlisted in the US Navy in New York; he served during the Civil War (roughly 19,000 Blacks served in the US Navy during the Civil War).
He remained in the US – and in the Navy – after the war. But things didn’t end well for Noil. On 25 March 1882, he died at what was then the Government Hospital for the Insane. (Today the facility is named St. Elizabeths Hospital in Washington, DC.) Noil had been diagnosed with “paralysis” prior to being hospitalized there.
He was buried in the hospital’s cemetery. Due to an error on his death certificate his last name was misspelled “Noel” on his tombstone.
And that’s the way things would have likely ended – except recent research uncovered some information apparently unknown or ignored at the time of Noil’s death.
It turns out that Noil had received a postwar decoration for heroism. In on 26 December 1872, Noil voluntarily and at the risk of his own life saved another sailor from drowning in the harbor at Norfolk, Virginia. For this act, Noil had been awarded a personal decoration for valor.
The Army and Navy had precisely one type of decoration for valor at the time: the Medal of Honor. Noil was a recipient of the Medal of Honor for noncombat heroism (allowable at the time).
Fast forward nearly 130 years. In 2011, the Medal of Honor Society was conducting research concerning gravesites of Medal of Honor recipients. During the course of this research, they determined that the “Joseph B. Noel” buried at St. Elizabeths Cemetery was in fact actually “Joseph Benjamin Noil”, US Navy – and a recipient of the Medal of Honor.
Noil’s original gravestone did not reflect this. Last month that error was corrected. His original gravestone was replaced, and was unveiled recently in a ceremony attended by both the US Chief of Naval Reserve (VADM Robin Braun) and the Canadian Defense Attache to the US (RADM William Truelove). Noil’s gravestone – with his name correctly spelled – now properly reflects his receipt of the Medal of Honor.
Rest in peace, elder brother-in-arms. And Kudos to the Medal of Honor Society and all others who helped belatedly honor the man.
Category: Blue Skies, Navy
Outstanding. Love these historical narratives.
PS…Thanks for picking up Jonns slack. Leaving us unsupervised is not such a good idea.
BZ!
Excellent. Glad they got this straightened out.
He was buried in that cemetery because it was thought that he had no family. However, he did have a great-great-great-granddaughter, who was pleased to find out about him.
Every vet has a family somewhere.
I researched Joseph Benjamin Noil (born in Liverpool, Nova Scotia) ancestry.com. He died on March 21, 1882. It seems strange nobody thought he had a family. There must have been a record keeping error at the hospital. It is a sad situation, he wasn’t an unknown homeless man when he arrived to the hospital.
According to the 1880 US Census (June 3, 1880) Noil was married to Sarah J. Noil (40 years old) and had two daughters Florence G. Noil (9 years old) and Sarah E. Noil (4 years old). The US Census shows they lived together on West 18th Street in New York City, NY and he was a US Navy sailor.
According to Norfolk, VA naval hospital records, he was admitted to the hospital dated May 25, 1881. He was a sailor aboard the USS Wyoming.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/USS_Wyoming_(1859)
The hospital record states Noil had “paralysis” and “There is good evidence that it was in the line of duty, the facts being as follows; for many months it has been noticed that they patient’s mind has been failing and that he has been losing his locomotion”.
“Early in April (1880) last, he had an epileptic attack and another on the 13 May (1880). For two days after the latter attack he was speechless, though able to walk and eat. As he has been in the US Naval service for the past seventeen years, it is natural to infer the disease originated in the line of duty.”
When Noil was admitted to the hospital he had a “complete loss of mental faculties” and his face had an “absolute vacant expression”
Also, here is a link to a website about African Nova Scotians.
https://novascotia.ca/archives/africanns/default.asp?Language=English
Does anyone know what “CAPT of the Hold” on the tombstone means?
It’s a 19th century Navy title. I had to look that one up, but here’s the definition. See paragraph 2.
TANKY
(1) of officers … the title by which is known the Midshipman detailed as
assistant to the Navigating officer. In former times the Navigating Officer
was responsible for the ship’s water tanks.
(2) of ratings … the title by which is known the Captain of the Hold – the
seaman rating attached to the Provision party and in whom is vested
responsibility for stowage and care of the provision holds.
He was chief storekeeper…
Thanks for the clarification…that is what I suspected.
Awesome… BZ to all those involved in correcting Mr. Noil’s headstone.
BZ! Rest in Peace Brother.
Let’s see if I have this right. The sailor, may he RIP, was an immigrant of questionable status who served in the War of Northern Aggression. If he served on the losing side (Forget Hell!), any monuments or other recognition such as street names would be removed in the name of political correctness. Think New Orleans on monuments and Little Rock renaming Confederate Blvd because it offended fuckers driving in from Hilly-Billy airport. Nazi dead were remembered with monuments as late as 74′ in a German cemetery outside of Schweinfurt, but American dead fighting for their cause cannot.
Any American who fought for Nazi Germany is a traitor and does not deserve a monument.
If, however, you are speaking of Americans fighting for truth, justice and the American way, I thought there were monuments for these brave soles all over Europe.
I think Club Manager is more likely pointing out the hypocrisy of the PC culture that is removing honors to American Veterans. Yes, those men who fought for the South are, today, considered American Veterans, just like the Yankees.
The reference to the soldiers buried in cemeteries, like the one outside Schweinfurt is just further illustrating the PC run amok.
This^^^^^
U.S. Code Title 38 – Veterans’ Benefits, Part II – General Benefits, Chapter 15 – Pension for Non-Service-Connected Disability or Death or for Service, Subchapter I – General, § 1501. Definitions: (3) The term “Civil War veteran” includes a person who served in the military or naval forces of the Confederate States of America during the Civil War, and the term “active military or naval service” includes active service in those forces.
Rest In Peace, Sir.
Very grateful you posted this, Hondo.
And grateful to the MOH Society.
Rest in Peace, Sailor.
Salute.
A bit late, for sure, but at log last the error was corrected. Well done, all.
Rest finally now in peace, sir.
Why the Canadian flag?
He served for America. That should be a the only flag there.
I am an immigrant, and if when i die they put any flag other than the American flag on my tomb, i will come back from the dead really, really angry and chase all those hippies away.
Old Glory on my shoulder, through rain and hail, fire and smoke. Forever and ever.
If I’m reading the article correctly, he was still a Canadian citizen even though he served in the US Navy. I won’t grudge Canada wanting to honor him.
I hoped to see this here. The article I read mentioned some family were also present, and his great great (one more great?) grand daughter was presented with a flag at the service.
Fair winds and following seas, Joseph Benjamin Noil.
Thank you for your service, brother. You served during a period of time when people of color were not readily accepted by their peers. Fortunately, that has changed. Blessings to you and praying you found fair winds and following seas after your passing.
Interesting. One good thing about the timing of this is that his actions did not have to stand up before the
“Purge” of the early 1900s, when 911 Medals of Honor were rescinded.
Peacetime actions such as his were the first ones stricken.
JAOD: the 1917 MoH “purge” was conducted by the Army. It did not have the authority to consider Navy/USMC awards of the MoH.
That Army review indeed rescinded 911 MoHs awarded. Significantly, of those 911 a total of 893 were awarded to two Army elements – the 27th Maine (864) and the Lincoln Funeral Detail (29). The 27th Maine was garrisoned in the DC area at the time of Gettysburg, and stayed 4 days past the end of their enlistment to defend the capital; for that, the unit was awarded en-masse the MoH. The Lincoln Funeral Detail was a similar mass award.
Of the remaining 18 Army MoHs that were rescinded, 6 were awards to civilians serving with the Army during the Civil and Indian Wars – 1 surgeon and 5 scouts. (These were all later restored.) The other 12 were deemed to have been initially awarded for insufficient or frivolous reasons and were rescinded; they have not been restored, nor have those awarded to the 27th Maine and the Lincoln Funeral Detail.
Doug Sterner’s Home of Heroes site documents the above quite well:
http://www.homeofheroes.com/moh/corrections/purge_army.html
http://www.homeofheroes.com/moh/corrections/restorations.html
While the Navy Department does not appear to have ever conducted a mass review of early MoH awards similar to that of the Army, it does appear to have had some sort of review process relating to the MoH. The Navy has in fact rescinded a total of 21 MoHs awarded to DoN personnel. The most common reason appears to have been for desertion during later service. Significantly, four peacetime awards from the post-Civil War/pre-World War II period were later rescinded. The list of rescinded Navy MoHs, also documented by Doug Sterner on his Home of Heroes site, can be found here:
http://www.homeofheroes.com/moh/corrections/purge_navy.html
None of the men who lost their medals in the purge were given the legal right to stand up and be heard in a court of law, as required..by law.
There were no NAVY medals purged. The 5 generals were only asked to examine the army medals. DAH?????
And asked to use new standards to look backwards about 50 years and use the new rules to wave the old and say..hey I guess you now do not meet the new rules, so bye bye.. medals.
The general were most upset and pleaded that the medals not be stricken but bureaucrats ignored their pleas.
The whole Purge was illegal, and remains so to this day. But who has the strength, time and money to set the record straight.
I have done considerable research and written often about this at…www.canadianmedalofhonor.com. The site is searchable. Just enter “PURGE”.
Well done on all accounts.
Salute to you and all the rest that made it happen.
“Never give up, never surrender” !!!