Francis Prior
Ordinary Seaman, USS Brooklyn
I am unable to locate a rendezvous index card for Francis Prior and nor can locate him on the Brooklyn's quarterly muster roll, so when he enlisted into the Navy or was attached to the USS Brooklyn is unknown. Prior's hospital ticket notes his age was 21 and was born in Maine.
Prior was aboard the Brooklyn during the 5 August 1864 Battle of Mobile Bay, in which action he sustained a fracture to his ribs [1]. He was transported by the USS Metacomet to Naval Hospital Pensacola, where he died three weeks later on 24 August from his injuries.[2].
Interment
Unknown, but most likely is buried in an "unknown soldier" grave in Barrancas National Cemetery. Graves then were typically given wooden headboards unless their shipmates took up a collection to pay for a stone marker that would survive Pensacola's humid subtropical climate.
Dependents
Awards and Memorials
References
[1] "Report of Casualties on the USS Brooklyn" NARA "Letters Received by the Secretary of the Navy From Commanding Officers of Squadrons, 1841-1886".
[2] Hospital Tickets and Case Papers, compiled 1825-1889. ARC ID: 2694723. Department of the Navy, Records of the Bureau of Medicine and Surgery, Record Group 52. National Archives and Records Administration, Washington, D.C.