Career
Born on June 22, 1838, in Poughkeepsie, New York, Garrison was still living in that state when he joined the Navy. He served during the Civil War as a coal heaver on Admiral David Farragut"s flagship, the United States Ship Hartford. At the Battle of Mobile Bay on August 5, 1864, he lost a toe to Confederate fire but continued his duties at the shell whip (a device used to lift ammunition up to the gun deck) until receiving a second, severe, wound.
Garrison died on April 19, 1908, at age 69 and was buried at Hampton National Cemetery in Hampton, Virginia.