Today marks the 102nd anniversary of the death of Orlando E. Caruana whose remains were interred in Mount Olivet Cemetery, Washington, DC. He had been awarded the Congressional Medal of Honour in 1890 for two acts of courage and heroism 28 years earlier.

Until recently, his descendants and others generally knew nothing about Orlando’s early life other than that he was born in Valletta on June 23, 1844.

An e-mail to Charles Said-Vassallo of Australia revealed that in his Caruana database Orlando turned out to be one of 13 known children of Dr Emmanuele Caruana, a Valletta lawyer and his wife, the former Francesca Cassar Desain. The Caruana ancestry, in turn, has been traced back directly to Nicola Caruana who, in 1433, married Perona Fanata.

Returning to Orlando, the next documentary evidence we have of him is that he boarded the Europa in Malta and was one of only two cabin passengers who arrived on board the brig in New York harbour on July 29, 1858. He had given his age as 18, when he was, in fact, only 14, and his occupation back in Malta as a clerk.

Orlando was living in a boarding house with 25 others, in the 16th ward of the 3rd district of New York City at the time of the 1860 federal census taken in June, and gave his age as 17, and occupation as a clerk.

Also living in this boarding house was Stephen B. Caruana with his wife Elmira and daughter Carrie. Stephen, an importer, was born in Malta, about 1825, and had immigrated to New York on board the brig Dussan in July 1838. At present, it is unknown whether Stephen and Orlando were related. 

We next hear of Orlando when, at the actual age of 17, while still in New York, he enlisted, on August 7, 1861, for a term of three years in the Union Army, saying his age was 20. In October, he was posted as a second sergeant to Company K under Captain Thomas Phillips in the newly-raised 51st New York Regiment. Orlando’s unit was assigned to the 2nd Brigade, 9th Army Corps, known as ‘The Wandering Corps’.

In his obituary, Caruana is said to have later been “promoted to first sergeant”, and while he was described as a private upon receiving the Medal of Honour, there is no question but that he was a second sergeant in Company K in October 1861.

The Union troops under General Ambrose Burnside captured the strategic Roanoke Island, off the North Carolina coast, between February 7 and 8, 1862, thereby securing control of the region. Among those engaged in this battle was Orlando Caruana of the 51st New York Infantry, who was later described as a private.

On March 14, in the Battle of New Bern, North Carolina, Company K, of the 51st New York Infantry, attacked along the railway line. Suddenly, the company found itself in a clearance looking straight into nearby Confederate redans. The Confederates opened fire on the exposed Yankees, yet the 51st advanced and returned fire but took heavy casualties.

During this exchange, the colour sergeant was wounded and fell. Pte Caruana seized the regimental flag and helped the colour sergeant off the battlefield.

The Battle of New Berne had cost the 51st one officer, Captain David R. Johnson, killed 18 enlisted men and four officers, including Lieutenant Colonel Robert B. Potter, and wounded 64 enlisted men. It was the greatest loss of any regiment in the battle.

Caruana honoured for extraordinary heroism

Caruana was at the Battle of the Second Bull Run in Prince William County, Virginia, between August 28 and 30 of the same year.

The Battle of South Mountain was fought on September 14, 1862, as part of the Maryland Campaign. Three pitched battles were fought for the possession of three South Mountain passes: Crampton’s, Turner’s, and Fox’s gaps. The Union Army of the Potomac, commanded by Major General George B. McClellan, needed to pass through these gaps in pursuit of Confederate General Robert E. Lee’s army of Northern Virginia. Despite being significantly outnumbered, Lee’s army delayed McClellan’s advance for a day before withdrawing.

The medal of honour awarded to Caruana.

During the battle, Pte Caruana was one of four soldiers who volunteered to scout and determine the position of the enemy and their movements at Fox’s Gap. Caruana was engaged, fired upon by the enemy and wounded, and his three companions were killed, but he managed to escape, rejoin his command in safety and bring back vital information.

Three days later, Caruana took part in the Battle of Antietam, Maryland on September 17, which has been referred to as “the bloodiest day in American history”. During the battle, the 51st Regiment of New York, together with the 51st Pennsylvania, made the historic charge by storming Burnside’s Bridge.

June and August 1863 found Caruana “on invalid detachment” in Washington, DC.

The last battle in which Caruana is known to have participated was the Battle of the Wilderness, between May 5 and 7, 1864, in Spotsylvania, Virginia. Here, he was wounded in the last charge made on the rifle pits at the Spotsylvania Court House.

Having served his three-year term, Private (some sources say Sergeant) Caruana was ‘mustered out’ of the army on September 6 (some sources say 7), 1864.

Orlando E. Caruana, his baptismal name appears to have been Emmanuel Orlando Caruana, was awarded the Medal of Honour on November 14, 1890.

The medal was introduced for the navy in 1861 and was soon followed by an army version in 1862. It is the highest and most prestigious personal military decoration that may be awarded to US military service members who have distinguished themselves by acts of valour. To date, a total of 1,522 such medals, some 40 per cent of those given out, have been awarded to those who were engaged in the American Civil War.

The citation for Caruana’s is as follows:

“The President of the United States of America, in the name of Congress, takes pleasure in presenting the Medal of Honor to Private Orlando Emanuel Caruana, United States Army, for extraordinary heroism on 14 March 1862, while serving with Company K, 51st New York Infantry, in action at New Bern, North Carolina. Private Caruana brought off the wounded color sergeant and the colors under a heavy fire of the enemy. He was one of four soldiers who volunteered to determine the position of the enemy at South Mountain, Maryland on 14 September 1862. While so engaged was fired upon and his three companions killed, but he escaped and rejoined his command in safety.”

A Medal of Honour certificate was issued to Caruana on May 12, 1914.

After the war, he became a clerk in the War Department in Washington, DC. While living in Washington, he was active in several veteran organisations. He was a member of Lincoln Post, No. 3, Department of the Potomac, GAR (Grand Army of the Republic), adjutant of the Encampment No. 69, Union Veterans’ Legion of Washington, DC, and of the ‘Old Guard’, also of Washington. By 1906 he was commander of John A. Rawlins Post No. 1, Department of the Potomac.

Caruana married Francis Marion ‘Fanny’ Harvey in Washington, on February 16, 1865. Their first child, Madaline Sophia, known as ‘Lilly’, was born in November 1866, followed by Mortimer Emanuel in September 1873, a daughter in September 1880 and Edgar Ermonia in July 1885.

Fanny died on December 19, 1891, and, in 1896 Orlando married Mary Catherine Fullerton.

Caruana died in New York City on September 14, 1917, at the age of 73. His funeral was held at St Martin’s church and he was buried in plot section 3, lot 33, Mount Olivet Cemetery, Washington, DC.

Dan Brock is the editor of the newsletter of the Maltese-Canadian Club of London, Ontario, Canada, where he is based.