During the Civil War, Landsman Aaron Anderson (some sources say Sanderson; 1811?–1886?), Union Navy, serving on the Potomac River Flotilla's steamer USS Wyandank, received the Congressional Medal of Honor for participating in the clearing of Mattox Creek in Virginia on March 17, 1865, and for carrying out his duties courageously in spite of devastating fire from the enemy. He also was awarded the Civil War Campaign Medal. Born in Plymouth, North Carolina, and later moving to Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, to work as a cook, Aaron was fifty-two years old when he joined the Union Navy to fight in the Civil War.
Aaron Anderson, 1865 (Photo of U.S. Navy poster, photographed 1970, official U.S. Navy photograph from the collections of the Naval History and Heritage Command—NH 103775 Landsman Aaron Anderson)
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