Leonard Chadwick

Leonard Chadwick (November 24, 1878 – May 18, 1940) was a Spanish-American War Medal of Honor recipient who served in the United States Navy as an Apprentice 1st Class aboard the USS Marblehead (C-11).

Biography
Chadwick was born in Middletown, Delaware and enlisted in the U.S. Navy in Philadelphia on October 26, 1895, serving aboard the USS Richmond, Vermont, Constellation, Alliance, Puritan, Brooklyn, Texas and Marblehead.

Chadwick was one of fifty-two men to receive the Medal of Honor for an operation involving locating and cutting oceanic cables to block communication from a cable house off the shore of Cientuegos, Cuba. He received his medal on July 7, 1899.

After his discharge, Chadwick moved to Boston, Massachusetts where he sold insurance and worked in the Morocco leather industry. A 1923 accident left him with a dislocated elbow and knee and he was declared totally disabled in 1937. Chadwick died at his home of asphyxiation and alcoholism on May 18, 1940, and was interred in Mount Hope Cemetery, West Roxbury, Massachusetts.

Medal of Honor citation


Citation: On board the USS Marblehead during the operation of cutting the cable leading from Cientuegos, Cuba, May 11, 1898. Facing the heavy fire of the enemy, Chadwick set an example of extraordinary bravery and coolness throughout this period.