​Over forty New Hampshire men, whether a native son, a resident, or a volunteer accredited to the state, earned a Medal of Honor for their actions during the Civil War. Here is one story:

BENJAMIN FRANKLIN FALLS
Color Sergeant, Company A, 19th Massachusetts Infantry.
Place/date of action: at Gettysburg, PA, 3 July 1863
Date of issue. December 1864.
Citation: Capture of flag.

​Portsmouth, New Hampshire born Benjamin F. Falls was a resident of Lynn, Massachusetts when he enlisted on 10 Aug 1861 at age 36, and was mustered in as a private with Co. A, 19th Massachusetts Infantry Volunteers, on the 28th. Promoted to corporal on 1 May '63, he would soon reach the rank of sergeant, following the unit's actions (and losses) at Gettysburg.

​Attached to Hancock's II Corps, Second Division, Third Brigade, the 19th MA found themselves, on July 3rd, at the center of the line, near the copse of oak trees that had been the chosen target for Pickett's Charge that afternoon. Of the 160 officers and men of the 19th able to be mustered for the engagement, 9 were killed, 60 wounded, and 8 were missing.

Four rebel flags were taken at the wall that day by the 19th Regiment. In the case of Mr. Falls, the History of the 19th Mass says that Benjamin, upon reaching the wall, saw a rebel flag flying above it, and so went to retrieve the colors. Looking down, an enemy soldier was still holding tight to it. "Falls raised his musket on which was the bayonet, and, holding it like a spear over the Johnnie, said 'Hut, Tut! Let alone of that or I'll run ye through'". Both the flag and the rebel were his for the capture.   

Sgt. Falls did not survive the war, having been mortally wounded at The Wilderness on 12 May 1864, carrying his colors into battle at Spotsylvania. His service record says he died in a Fredericksburg hospital on the 14th. The History of the 19th, pg 322, says he was buried there. His body may have been later returned to Lynn, MA, and buried in Pine Grove Cemetery, where a veteran stone was ordered for him (contract dated Jan 1883). 

Back home in in Lynn, he left behind his wife Sarah, and two daughters, Mary, aged 9, and Lucy, aged 4.

Links/Sources:
Adams, John G. B. Reminiscences of the Nineteenth Massachusetts Regiment. Boston, MA: Wright & Potter Printing Co., 1899.
Congressional Medal of Honor Society: Benjamin Frank Falls
Medal of Honor, 1863-1968: pg 87
Pension Papers: WC46472 (full file on Fold3.com - sub required) 
Waitt, Ernest Linden. History of the Nineteenth Regiment, Massachusetts Volunteer Infantry, 1861-1865. Salem, Massachusetts: Salem Press, 1906.

​Over forty New Hampshire men, whether a native son, a resident, or a volunteer accredited to the state, earned a Medal of Honor for their actions during the Civil War. Here is one story:

ROBERT ANDERSON
Quartermaster, U.S. Navy
Place/Date of Action:during Battle of Charleston Harbor, 8 Apr 1863
Issued: G.O. No. 17, 10 July 1863
Citation: ​Served on board the U.S.S. Crusader and the Keokuk during various actions of those vessels. Carrying out his duties skillfully while on board the U.S.S. Crusader, Q.M. Anderson, on all occasions, set forth the greatest intrepidity and devotion. During the attack on Charleston, while serving on board the U.S.S. Keokuk, Q.M. Anderson was stationed at the wheel when shot penetrated the house and, with the scattering of the iron, used his own body as a shield for his commanding officer. 

While the citation seems to indicate that QM Anderson received a Medal of Honor due to his service on board both the Crusader and the Keokuk over various campaigns, the latter engagement during the First Battle of Charleston Harbor was the key instance where his actions earned him the medal two months later.

The USS Keokuk, on which was Quartermaster Anderson, was part of a nine ship flotilla, including the USS New Ironsides and seven monitors (Catskill, Montauk, Nahant, Nantucket, Passaic, Patapsco, and Weehawken), set to attack Charleston, South Carolina on April 7th, 1863. The battle began at noon, but obstructions in the harbor and a strong tide made the ships unmanageable, and accurate fire from the coastal forts quickly turned the attack into a failure. The ironclads received a heavy pounding, one the Keokuk did not recover from. Struck by some ninety shells, she was kept afloat through the night, but sank the following morning, with all of her crew saved.       

Robert Nero Anderson was born in Ireland on 15 Dec 1843 [from death rec], and immigrated from Liverpool, England to the United States in June 1852 [Nat papers]. He enlisted with the US Navy in 1856 (or 1858), the exact location not yet known [likely outside of N.H., as he wasn't listed in Aylings Revised Register]. According to the Pension Index, he had served on numerous naval vessels, including the Ohio, Pennsylvania, Fulton, Constellation, North Carolina, Crusader, Seneca, Keokuk, and the Paul Jones. His full pension file is not fully available on Fold3, so all of the facts concerning his many years in the Navy are not known at this time.

He filed his naturalization papers in 1866, and became a US citizen on 23 Nov 1866. He was a resident of Portsmouth by this time, having married Mary Walsh there in 1864. Seven children are recorded in city records with this couple, though most of them died young. He remarried to Nellie Walsh in 1886, and they had a son, and he thirdly married in 1897 to Margaret Gannon. For many years he worked as a watchman at the Navy Yard ferry landing, and had a home at 69 Daniel Street.   

Robert Anderson died in Portsmouth, NH on 20 June 1900. He was buried in Calvary Cemetery on the 23rd. His obituary, printed in the Portsmouth Herald on 21 June 1900 (pg 6) read as follows (a son also survived, but is missing from obit):

Links:
General Orders and Circulars Issued by the Navy Department, 1863 to 1887, pg 9
Medal of Honor, 1863-1968: pg 20
Naval History and Heritage Command: photo of the Keokuk​ used above
Wikipedia article about the U.S.S. Keokuk

NATHANIEL C. BARKER
Sergeant, Co. E, 11th New Hampshire Infantry
Place/Date of action: Spotsylvania, VA, 12 May 1864
Date of issue: 23 Sept 1897
Citation: Six color bearers of the regiment having been killed*, he voluntarily took both flags of the regiment and carried them through the remainder of the battle.

Nathaniel Churchill Barker, a Piermont, New Hampshire native, left home at age sixteen, moving to Manchester, NH, where he worked at a cotton mill. He enlisted on 21 Aug 1862, and was mustered into Co. E, 11th NH Infantry as a corporal on the 29th. He was promoted to sergeant on 30 Aug '63.

With the 11th NH, Barker participated in numerous engagements, including White Sulphur Springs, Fredericksburg, Siege of Vicksburg, Jackson, Miss., Siege of Knoxville, Fort Sanders, and the Wilderness. The Battle of Spotsylvania, on 12 May 1864, fell next in his record of battles. 

The regiment,in the Second Brigade of Gen. Potter's 2nd Division in Burnside's IX Corps, held the Union's left flank when the battle commenced in the early morning of the 12th. His obituary, printed in the Boston Evening Transcript on March 8th, 1904, described the event, in part: "...six color bears were shot down. As the last bearer of the Stars and Stripes staggered from a rifle ball, Sergeant Barker sprang from his cover and seized the falling colors...the State's flag also fell, and this, too, was taken by the brave sergeant, who bore both flags through the remainder of the battle".

The following month, at Cold Harbor, Sgt. Barker was wounded in the hip, and spent the remainder of his service in several hospitals, until being discharged on 25 May 1865.

After the war, Nathaniel took a job at the County Jail in Manchester, and later at the Amoskeag Locomotive Works. In 1870, he removed to Somerville, Mass, where he was employed as a carpenter. He joined Ladder No. 1 of the city's fire department, was soon promoted to foreman, until reaching the assistant chief position in 1877.

Nathaniel Barker died in Somerville, MA on 7 March 1904, aged 67 yrs, from cancer of the liver and kidney. His body was sent to Merrimack, NH, where he was buried on the 11th in Last Rest Cemetery.

Links:
A History of the Eleventh New Hampshire Volunteers: The Color Guard
Boston Evening Transcript, 8 March 1904 (pg 2)
Medal of Honor, 1863 - 1968: pg 25
​Note:
* While the citation claims that six color bearers were killed, only James K. Lane of Co. G was mortally wounded on that day, while the others in the guard fell wounded. A total of 19 men of the 11th NH were killed that day, with over a hundred twenty-five wounded.

Over forty New Hampshire men, whether a native son, a resident, or a volunteer accredited to the state, earned a Medal of Honor for their actions during the Civil War. Here is one story:

JAMES BRADY
Private, Company F, 10th New Hampshire Infantry
Place/date of action: at Chaffin's Farm, Virginia, 29 Sept 1864
Date of issue: 6 April 1865
Citation: Capture of flag

James Brady enlisted in Portsmouth, NH on 11 Aug 1863 as a substitute for Edward S. Sanborn of Kingston, NH, and was mustered in the same day. He was 22 years of age, and had been born in Boston, MA. 

On the "date of action", the 29th of Sept, 1864, the 10th NH were with the XVIII Corps, sent out as skirmishers ahead of the First Division, in the taking of Fort Harrison (while the X Corps were assaulting New Market Heights). The following day, the Confederates made several attempts to retake the fort, without success. The 10th NH Inf. and the 118th New York Infantry formed a skirmish line, and advanced over the field, capturing the rebel wounded and numerous battle flags [Revised Register, pg. 515]. In the report on the soldiers valiant conduct in the field by Asst. Adj.Gen. Smith [US Congr. Series I, Vol XLII, Part III, pg 164] it was recommended that Private Bradbury(sic) receive a medal "for gallantry in capturing a rebel stand of colors".

​On 21 June 1865, the 10th NH was mustered out of service, and any men having not yet completed their terms were transferred to the 2nd NH Infantry. James Brady was listed as "absent, sick" at this time, and didn't join the Second NH in the field.

The whereabouts of Pvt Brady following his Civil War service are not clear. He did not file for a pension, and he was not seen in the 1890 Veterans Schedule. He may be the James Brady, age 39, single, a laborer, in 1880 Boston, MA census with mother Ann, and single brothers William, George, and John (They are also seen in 1870 Boston, and in 1860 Roxbury censuses, and James looks to be a match). 

Beginning in Oct. 1893, James Brady was admitted into the New Hampshire Soldier's Home in Tilton on multiple occasions. He was listed as single, his occupation a laborer, and his disability was rheumatism. His last stay there ended in May 1904, when he left at his own request. That October, he arrived in Raymond, NH, where he died at the home of Mr. Allen on 7 Oct 1904. His obituary, which ran in the Derry News on 14 Oct 1904 (pg 8), is below. The local G.A.R. Post had purchased a veteran's plot in the Pine Grove Cemetery, and escorted his body there following his service.

Links:
Ayling's Revised Register, pg 520
Battle of Chaffin's Farm: [battle map w/ unit locations - LoC site]
Medal of Honor, 1863-1968: pg 38
New Hampshire Soldiers' Home (Tilton, NH): Report for 1904
10th N.H. Infantry: muster roll for  "Substitutes for Drafted Men" ​
10th New Hampshire Infantry: Co. F (transfers to 2nd NH)

​Over forty New Hampshire men, whether a native son, a resident, or a volunteer accredited to the state, earned a Medal of Honor for their actions during the Civil War. Here is one story:

HENRY W. ROWE
Private, Co. I, 11th New Hampshire Infantry
Place/Date of Action: Petersburg, VA, 17 June 1864
Date of Issue: 1 Dec 1864
Citation: With two companions, he rushed and disarmed 27 enemy pickets, capturing a stand of flags

Henry Walker Rowe enlisted on 14 Aug 1862, and was mustered in on 2 Sept '62 as a private in Company I, 11th New Hampshire Infantry. He was mustered out of service while a patient at the Douglas Hospital, Washington, DC, on 14 June 1865.

On the date of action, the 11th NH Infantry was with General Griffin's Brigade, at the front line near Petersburg. General Potter's Division in the Ninth Corps had the job of running through a ravine and breaking the rebel lines. Dropping their gear to prevent noise, the 11th NH led the 260 men in a 3 A.M. attack, quickly running through the pickets and headed for the breastworks. Private Rowe, with Jeremiah Batchelder, also of Co. I, and Sgt. Solomon Dodge of Co. C, ran around to the rear of a rifle pit, and surprised the men inside. "Surrender, you damned rebels" they yelled, and the 27 soldiers quickly dropped their weapons.The trio led their captives back to their own lines, along with a Confederate flag Pvt. Rowe had snagged [see write-up in "Deeds of Valor" for more on this story].

A month later, the 11th NH was part of the Mine Explosion at Petersburg on July 30th. Henry Rowe was shot in the right shoulder, and spent his remaining term in the hospital (Pvt. Batchelder, mentioned above, was killed in action the same day).   

After the war, Henry moved to Manchester, NH, where worked as a job printer. After a short stay in Dayton, Ohio (seen in the Soldiers Home there in 1879 books), he took his business to Boston, MA, where he remained until his death in 1913.

HENRY W. ROWE was born in Candia, NH on 1 Apr 1840, the son of John and Lydia Rowe. He died on 9 Oct 1913 in Roxbury, MA, from hypostatic pneumonia. He was first married to SOPHRONIA J. WALLACE in 1861, and second to LAVINIA T. ROWE in 1866. By his second wife, he had a son, HARRY SHERMAN ROWE, born 1874 in Boston, MA.

Links:
A History of the Eleventh New Hampshire Regiment, pg 518
Deeds of Valor: pg 366
11th NH Civil War records: [Enlist. page, Muster-Out roll, Must-out roll (2)]
​Medal of Honor, 1863 - 1968 [pg 212]