Martin Freeman

Martin Freeman was born in Germany on May 18, 1814, and spent his working life on the Gulf Coast. He had two daughters with his first wife in New Orleans and later moved his family back there, where the Navy hired him as a pilot. On August 5, 1864, at Mobile Bay, he stood in the maintop of USS Hartford and guided Union ships into the bay under heavy Confederate fire. His Medal of Honor came that December 31. He died in 1894 at 80 and is buried in Pascagoula, Mississippi.

Where it stands

Worth the stop nearby

• Mardi Gras Museum of Imperial Calcasieu — 1.1 mi
  A 6,000-square-foot museum of southwest Louisiana Carnival with about 275 costume mannequins and 14 animated figures, opened in April 2026.
• Imperial Calcasieu Museum — 1.4 mi
  Lake Charles's history museum, founded by the Junior League in 1963, with parish artifacts, Claire Chennault's uniform and the Sallier Oak.
• Sam Houston Jones State Park — 5.0 mi
  A 1,087-acre park on the West Fork of the Calcasieu with longleaf pine, cypress-tupelo swamp, five trails, cabins and kayak rentals.
• Creole Nature Trail Adventure Point — 9.4 mi
  A free visitor center at the western gateway of Louisiana's only All-American Road, with exhibits on alligators, migrating songbirds and the estuary.

More markers nearby

• John Osborne — steps away
• Hampton M. Roach — steps away
• Albert Weisbogel — steps away
• Emanual Stance — steps away