George E. Dixon

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George E. Dixon (1837? - February 17, 1864) was a first lieutenant in the Confederate Army in the American Civil War. He is best known as the commander of the Confederate submarine H.L. Hunley during her successful mission to sink the Union blockading ship USS Housatonic off Charleston, South Carolina.

[edit] Life and Death

Although Dixon's early life is largely unknown, the 1860 census lists him as a 23-year-old native of Kentucky. He was a steamboat engineer and had lived in New Orleans, Louisiana before moving to Mobile, Alabama. Dixon's expensive tailor-made uniform and jewellery found on his remains suggests that he was a man of some wealth.

Dixon was a Mason, and a member of Mobile Lodge No. 40. Minutes of Union Chapter No. 3, Royal Arch Masons, indicate that Dixon visited that body on November 20, 1863, which proves he was also a York Rite Mason. The famed Albert G. Mackey was the presiding officer at that particular meeting.

Dixon was a member of a pre-war militia company, the Washington Light Infantry of Mobile. In the autumn of 1861, the Washington Light Infantry became Company A, 21st Alabama Infantry Regiment. Dixon by then was a sergeant. He would later be promoted to lieutenant. In March 1862, Dixon's regiment proceeded to Corinth, Mississippi, and the following month took an active part in the Battle of Shiloh, losing 200 men killed or wounded out of the 650 engaged. Dixon himself was severely wounded in the left leg. Luckily for him, the $20 gold coin Queenie Bennett gave him saved his leg, and possibly his life, but the impact still caused damage to his femur, causing him to limp when he walked. Following the battle, the regiment was reorganized and returned to Mobile to man the city's defenses as artillerymen. It was during the uneventful garrison duty at Mobile that Dixon took an interest in the submarine that Horace Lawson Hunley was building.

On February 17, 1864, Dixon commanded the Confederate submarine on her first and only attack on the Union Navy. He was successful in sinking his target, but the explosion of the torpedo apparently damaged the submarine, causing her to sink during her attempted return to shore. Dixon and his seven crewmen all perished.

After the long lost submarine was finally located and recovered in 2001, Dixon's remains were identified. His home Lodge, now known as Mobile-McCormick Lodge No. 40, and the Masonic Grand Lodges of Alabama and South Carolina participated in the military and Masonic funeral rites when the remains of the Confederate submarine's crewmen were finally interred on April 17, 2004 in Magnolia Cemetery in downtown Charleston, South Carolina..

[edit] The Gold Coin

A romantic legend concerning George Dixon and a gold coin has been told for more than a century. Dixon is said to have been given the gold coin by his sweetheart, Queenie Bennett. She asked him to carry the coin for good luck and as a token of her affection. Dixon kept the coin always with him, and at the Battle of Shiloh it was in his trousers pocket. During the fierce fighting on April 6, 1862, Dixon was hit in the upper thigh by a minnie ball. When he examined the wound, he discovered that the bullet had struck the coin directly in the center, bending the coin but saving his leg by absorbing much of the impact and possibly saving his life.

Following the recovery of H. L. Hunley, the legend was partially verified by the discovery of the gold coin with Dixon's remains. Forensic anthropologist Diane France was hired to study the recovered skull of Dixon. Reconstructing Dixon's appearance, she found the man in a photo Queenie Bennett's family had always presumed to be Dixon was not him at all. The inscription on the coin fails to mention Bennett, but it does confirm that it stopped a bullet at Shiloh. The United States $20 double eagle coin was minted in 1860 and is clearly deformed from the impact of the bullet. Both the coin itself and a wound on the Dixon's femur were found to have traces of lead. The reverse of the coin is inscribed with four short lines:

Shiloh
April 6, 1862
My life Preserver
G. E. D.

The damaged coin is now on display with other artifacts and the submarine Hunley herself at the Warren Lasch Conservation Center.

[edit] References and External Links

http://www.sonnarhosting.com/~theellis/gallery.php?gid=81
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