No longer kept in a drawer: Descendants donate Medal of Honor to Massachusetts town where hero recipient was laid to rest

Cecelia Miles, Col. Perry, veterans agent Donald Hirschy (Town of Dighton)

Cecelia Miles and her siblings came to realize that a Medal of Honor awarded to their great-grandfather for his actions during the Civil War shouldn’t be just a family heirloom, tucked away in a drawer.

Nearly a decade after Pvt. Frederick C. Anderson’s grave was found in Dighton, Mass., Miles recently drove from the Sioux Falls, S.D., area to the cemetery to present it to the town.

Dighton officials on that same day renamed an Elm Street span the Pvt. Frederick C. Anderson Memorial Bridge.

Anderson, a member of the 18^th Massachusetts Volunteer Infantry, received the honor for capturing the flag and color bearer of the 27^th South Carolina during an August 1864 battle in Virginia.

Miles, a university associate professor, told the Picket she knew about the medal and Anderson while growing up in Florida, but the subject was not discussed much.

Anderson who died in 1882 at age 40 in Providence, R.I., was believed to be buried in Somerset, Mass. But Charles Mogayzel, a Korean War veteran and advocate for Medal of Honor recipients, in fall 2011 discovered the grave in Dighton. It had Anderson’s name but did have a Medal of Honor designation.

The late Mogayzel’s niece contacted Miles, who was putting together some information on her ancestor, through Ancestry.com.

“I wrote her back saying you may not believe this, but I actually have the medal. They were completely gobsmacked,” said Miles, who traveled to Dighton in 2011 for a ceremony at which a Medal of Honor marker was installed.

According to a Dighton proclamation, Anderson was born in Boston but was orphaned by age 8. At 14, he was relocated by the Orphan Train, a welfare program, to Raynham, Mass., and was put to work on a farm.

Military, veterans officials at renamed bridge (Town of Dighton)

He enlisted shortly after the Civil War began and participated in several battles with the 18^th Massachusetts. According to the Taunton Gazette, regimental records showed that Anderson was about 5-foot-3 and had blue eyes and sandy hair.

The soldier earned the Medal of Honor for capturing the colors on Aug. 21, 1864, at the Battle of Globe Tavern, also known as the Second Battle of Weldon Railroad. The taking of regimental flags often disrupted communication among enemy troops.

The battle was a significant victory for the Union, netting a Confederate supply line and a portion of a railroad near Petersburg. Anderson received the medal from Maj. Gen. George Meade a month later.

Anderson was discharged at war’s end and settled in Somerset, where he and his wife raised three children, one of whom, Cecelia Ann, was Miles’ grandmother.

Miles, who traveled to Massachusetts with her husband, was presented a U.S. flag during the March 30 ceremony at the Dighton Community Church cemetery.

Col. Perry presents flag to Cecelia Miles (Town of Dighton)

“So many people who have never been in the armed forces don’t have the appreciation for what it takes to be awarded any decoration for military service,” Air Force Col. Bob Perry said, according to a press release from the town. “The Medal of Honor requires extraordinary dedication, valor and courage while under fire. Pvt. Anderson clearly demonstrated all of those traits.”

Officials said the medal will most likely be displayed in a glass case at Town Hall after the building receives some upgrades.

Miles said she is pleased the public will be able to see the medal and learn more about her great-grandfather, a Civil War hero. The ceremony, she said, was emotional.

“Everyone there was so pleased and proud. It just connected me to a much longer line of history and meaning than I had understood before.”