Aaron Steven Lanfare

Aaron Steven Lanfare was born on 9 September 1824 in Branford, Connecticut. He came from a seafaring family: his grandfather Oliver had commanded the vessel Chloe Ann during the American Revolution. Before the Civil War, Aaron worked in merchant shipping and commanded the New Haven barque Reindeer.

Lanfare joined Connecticut's cavalry during the Civil War and served as a first lieutenant in Company B, 1st Connecticut Cavalry. During the final campaign in Virginia, he captured the flag of the Confederate 11th Florida Infantry at Sailor's Creek on 6 April 1865. The official Medal of Honor citation states: “Capture of flag of 11th Florida Infantry (C.S.A.).” The Congressional Medal of Honor Society records the award date as 3 May 1865.

After leaving the Army, Lanfare returned to merchant shipping. The Connecticut Military Department describes his postwar work as a merchant and trader and records that he was lost at sea when his vessel sank on a voyage to the West Indies in 1875. His life thus connected two very different forms of service: the commercial voyages that occupied his civilian years and the cavalry service for which he received the Medal of Honor.

His descendants placed a memorial stone in Branford's Center Cemetery in 1984, beside his grandfather's grave. It commemorates a man lost at sea, rather than marking the burial of recovered remains.

Sources: Congressional Medal of Honor Society, https://www.cmohs.org/recipients/aaron-s-lanfare ; Connecticut Military Department, https://portal.ct.gov/mil/mapo/history/units/history-of-the-first-squadron-connecticut-volunteer-cavalry ; Branford Historical Society, Spring 2011 newsletter, p.5, https://branfordhistoricalsociety.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/12/Spring-2011-Newsletter.pdf .