William Halstead (January 9, 1837 – July 23, 1916) was a Union Navy sailor in the American Civil War and a recipient of the U.S. military's highest decoration, the Medal of Honor, for his actions at the Battle of Mobile Bay. Born on January 9, 1837, in Alplaus, New York, Halstead began his seafaring career as a young man. He first worked on whaling ships out of the Pacific Northwest, then sailed the Pacific as a merchant mariner. Halstead's official Medal of Honor citation reads: