Savage volunteered for service in the United States. Navy and was assigned to the Union brig United States Ship. His enlistment is credited to the state of Massachusetts. On January 15, 1865, the North Carolina Confederate stronghold of Fort Fisher was taken by a combined Union storming party of sailors, marines, and soldiers under the command of Admiral David Dixon Porter and General Alfred Terry.
He received the Medal of Honor for his actions during the Second Battle of Fort Fisher on January 15, 1865. The President of the United States of America, in the name of Congress, takes pleasure in presenting the Medal of Honor to Ordinary Seaman Auzella Savage, United States Navy, for extraordinary heroism in action while serving on board the United States.S. Santiago de Cuba in the assault on Fort Fisher, North Carolina, 15 January 1865.
Savage was a member of the storming party.
