Frederick C. Anderson

Frederick Charles Anderson was born on March 24, 1842, in Boston, Massachusetts. He came of age during a period of growing national division that culminated in the American Civil War. When the conflict began, Anderson entered Union military service and became a soldier in the United States Army. His verified military record identifies him as a Private, and no higher rank has been established for him. His Medal of Honor service was with Company A, 18th Massachusetts Infantry, a regiment that became part of the Army of the Potomac and served in some of the most difficult campaigns of the Eastern Theater. Anderson entered the 18th Massachusetts Infantry during the early period of the war. The regiment was organized in Massachusetts in 1861 and was eventually assigned to the Army of the Potomac. Its soldiers experienced the increasingly costly campaigns fought in Virginia, Maryland and Pennsylvania as Union forces attempted to defeat the principal Confederate armies in the East. Anderson remained an enlisted infantryman, and his military career was defined not by rank or command responsibility but by sustained service as a Private in a front-line infantry organization. By 1864 the strategic focus of the Army of the Potomac had shifted toward Petersburg, Virginia. Petersburg was critically important because several railroads supplying Richmond and Confederate forces passed through or near the city. Union commanders therefore sought to seize or destroy those transportation routes. One of the most important was the Weldon Railroad, which connected Petersburg with points farther south and served as a major Confederate supply line. The fighting for the Weldon Railroad developed into what became known as the Battle of Globe Tavern. Union forces moved against the railroad in August 1864, and Confederate troops repeatedly attempted to drive them away. On August 21, 1864, Frederick Anderson was serving as a Private in Company A of the 18th Massachusetts Infantry when he performed the act that would earn him the Medal of Honor. During the fighting, Anderson captured the battle flag of the 27th South Carolina Infantry together with its color bearer. In Civil War combat, regimental colors had enormous tactical and symbolic importance. Soldiers used their flags to identify their regiment, maintain formation and rally during the confusion of battle. Color bearers were therefore prominent and dangerous targets, and the capture of an enemy regiment's flag normally required a soldier to move into extremely close and dangerous contact with opposing troops. Anderson's capture of both the Confederate battle flag and the soldier carrying it demonstrated exceptional courage during direct infantry combat. His official Medal of Honor citation is brief but precise: it recognizes the capture of the battle flag of the 27th South Carolina and its color bearer. Unlike some Civil War Medal of Honor cases that were recognized decades after the event, Anderson's action was acknowledged remarkably quickly. The United States Army records September 6, 1864, as the official date of issue of Anderson's Medal of Honor, only a little more than two weeks after his action at the Weldon Railroad. Historical records associated with Anderson also record a formal presentation on September 13, 1864, when Major General George G. Meade, commander of the Army of the Potomac, presented Medal of Honor decorations to soldiers recognized for capturing enemy colors. The distinction between these dates is important: August 21 was the heroic action, September 6 was the official issue date recorded by the Army, and September 13 was the subsequent presentation associated with the Army of the Potomac. Because Anderson's Medal of Honor was issued in 1864, the correct historical database representation is Medal of Honor 1862–1895 Army — 1864. This places his decoration within the original Civil War-era Army Medal of Honor period rather than one of the later nineteenth- or twentieth-century designs. No additional star, clasp, bar, oak leaf cluster or other device has been verified for his Medal of Honor, so the decoration should be displayed without an additional device. The Medal of Honor itself had only recently been established when Anderson earned it. The Navy version was authorized in 1861, and Congress authorized the Army Medal of Honor in 1862. During the Civil War it became the principal national decoration available for recognizing extraordinary acts by Union soldiers. Many early Army Medals of Honor were connected with the capture or protection of regimental colors because carrying or seizing a flag under close enemy fire represented an especially dangerous form of battlefield courage. Anderson's case belongs directly to that Civil War tradition. He was not decorated for a later administrative achievement or a lifetime of military service. His Medal of Honor recognized one specific combat act performed as an infantry Private during the struggle for the Weldon Railroad. Capturing the 27th South Carolina's colors deprived an opposing regiment of one of its most important battlefield symbols and demonstrated that Anderson had reached a position of immediate physical contact with the enemy. Shortly after the Weldon Railroad fighting, the service history of the 18th Massachusetts changed. As the regiment's original term of service expired, remaining men and reenlisted veterans were transferred into the 32nd Massachusetts Infantry. Anderson continued his Civil War service in that organization. His continued service kept him within the Army of the Potomac during the final stages of the Petersburg operations. Later in 1864 Anderson was wounded in the left foot during the continuing operations around Petersburg. His injury required hospitalization. After receiving medical treatment, he eventually returned to duty, demonstrating that his Civil War service continued even after the action for which he had already earned the nation's highest military decoration. The final months of the war brought the collapse of Confederate resistance in Virginia. The prolonged Petersburg campaign ended when Confederate forces abandoned Petersburg and Richmond in April 1865. Union forces pursued General Robert E. Lee's Army of Northern Virginia westward until Lee surrendered at Appomattox Court House on April 9, 1865. Anderson's remaining military service extended into this final phase of the conflict before he eventually returned to civilian life. Throughout his documented Army career, Anderson remained a Private. This is important for the final database record. His rank at the Medal of Honor action was Private, and Private is also the highest verified rank established for him. There is no evidence supporting promotion to Corporal, Sergeant or a commissioned rank, so no higher title should be substituted. After the Civil War, Anderson returned to Massachusetts. He married Sarah E. Francis in 1866 and established a civilian life after several years of wartime service. He became part of the generation of Union veterans who returned from military service carrying the physical and personal consequences of the Civil War while building families and civilian careers during the postwar period. Anderson did not live to old age. He died on October 6, 1882, in Providence, Rhode Island, at only forty years of age. He was buried in Dighton, Massachusetts. His death occurred decades before many Civil War veterans reached the period in which later campaign decorations and commemorative recognition became common. For that reason, the later Army Civil War Campaign Medal is not included in Anderson's final medal rack. That campaign medal was not established until 1907, approximately twenty-five years after Anderson's death. His final verified award record therefore remains centered on the Medal of Honor that was actually issued during his lifetime and directly connected to his documented battlefield action. Anderson's Medal of Honor itself survived as an important artifact of his legacy. More than a century after the Civil War, members of his family transferred the medal to the Town of Dighton, Massachusetts, helping preserve a physical connection between Anderson, his descendants and the community where he is buried. His memory has also been honored locally, ensuring that the story of the young Massachusetts infantryman remains connected to the place where his remains rest. Frederick Charles Anderson's military legacy is ultimately defined by a single moment during the struggle for the Weldon Railroad on August 21, 1864. Serving as a Private in Company A, 18th Massachusetts Infantry, he closed with the enemy and captured both the battle flag of the 27th South Carolina Infantry and its color bearer. The act placed him among the Civil War soldiers whose courage was recognized with the newly established Medal of Honor. His final verified profile therefore records him as Frederick Charles Anderson, United States Army, Private, Company A, 18th Massachusetts Infantry at the time of his Medal of Honor action, with Private also remaining his highest verified rank. His verified decoration is Medal of Honor 1862–1895 Army — 1864, with no additional device or clasp. His service represents the experience of an enlisted Civil War infantryman whose battlefield courage during the Petersburg Campaign earned recognition that has endured long after both the regiment and the war itself passed into history.