Career
Born in 1828 in Dover, New Hampshire, Melville"s birth name was James Ramsbottom. He joined the Navy from his hometown of Dover and served during the Civil War as an ordinary seaman on Admiral David Farragut"s flagship, the United States Ship Hartford. At the Battle of Mobile Bay on August 5, 1864, he was wounded by an artillery shell but returned to his post manning one of Hartford"s guns for the remainder of the battle.
Melville died on January 5, 1867, at age 38 or 39 and was buried in Rochester, New Hampshire.