Among the Civil War artifacts displayed at the Ottawa County Museum in Port Clinton is a framed Medal of Honor certificate. It was presented to Lewis Capet Shepard, Ottawa County’s only known Medal of Honor recipient. His actual Medal of Honor has been lost, unfortunately.
The Medal of Honor is the United States’ highest award for military valor in action. Lincoln signed a bill including the medal, the first of its type, for the Navy on Dec. 21, 1861, “to be bestowed upon such petty officers, seamen, landsmen and Marines as shall most distinguish themselves by their gallantry and other seamanlike qualities during the present war.” Eventually, it would be presented to heroes in all branches of our military.
Lewis Capet Shepard was born on September 2, 1841, in Ashtabula, to Lorian and Sarah (McCauley) Shepard. He enlisted as a private in Company I of the 19th Ohio Infantry on April 27, 1861. His first battle, the Battle of Rich Mountain in what is now West Virginia, was also the first major land battle of the Civil War.
He mustered out on August 30, 1861, then reenlisted in the 11th Independent Battery, New York Light Artillery on September 18, for three years. In August of 1862 he and 19 other soldiers from that unit were captured at the Second Battle of Bull Run, or Second Manassas. Promoted to Corporal after his release, he fought at Chancellorsville, Gettysburg, and the Battle of Mine Run. He was again discharged on April 23, 1864.
Shepard then enlisted in the U.S. Navy on April 25, 1864, at Baltimore as an Ordinary Seaman. He served on the U.S.S. Allegheny, U.S.S. Wabash, U.S.S. Commodore Perry, and U.S.S. Constellation. It was while he served on the naval frigate U.S.S. Wabash in January of 1865, that he participated in the landing party at Fort Fisher near Wilmington, North Carolina, and performed his heroic action. He was 23 years old.
The Union forces overtook Wilmington and Fort Fisher fell. The Confederacy’s supply line was severed. The Civil War came to an end shortly thereafter.
Lewis returned home and married Velma Eudora LaBounty. They lived in Danbury, and he was employed by the Lake Shore Railroad.
On June 9, 1897, Shepard was presented the Medal of Honor in Washington, DC. The citation reads: “Served as seaman on board the U.S.S. Wabash in the assault on Fort Fisher, 15 January 1865. Advancing gallantly through severe enemy fire while armed only with a revolver and cutlass which made it impossible to return the fire at that range, Shepard succeeded in reaching the angle of the fort and in going on, to be one of the few who entered the fort. When the rest of the body of men to his rear were forced to retreat under a devastating fire, he was forced to withdraw through lack of support and to seek the shelter of one of the mounds near the stockade from which point he succeeded in regaining the safety of his ship.”
He died in his home on April 27, 1919, of septic poisoning at age 77. He’s buried at Lakeview Cemetery in Port Clinton. His grave site has two memorial plaques: One states “Lewis C. Shepard” with his birth and death dates. The second plaque states “Louis C. Shepard” with the inscription, “MEDAL OF HONOR—ORDINARY SEAMAN—USS WABASH—CIVIL WAR,” and his birth and death dates.
His Medal of Honor certificate also spells his name as “Louis,” due to a clerical error. “Lewis” is the correct spelling, as recorded on his birth and death certificates, although he’s referred to as Louis in most historical records.