Frederick Charles Anderson (March 24, 1842 – October 6, 1882) was a Union Army soldier in the American Civil War who received the United States military's highest decoration, the Medal of Honor.

He enlisted in the Union Army shortly after the start of the war and, as a private in the 18th Regiment Massachusetts Volunteer Infantry, participated in several major battles, including Antietam, Fredericksburg, Chancellorsville, and Gettysburg.

Transferred to the 32nd Regiment Massachusetts Volunteer Infantry and wounded in the Siege of Petersburg, he returned to the field in time to witness the Confederate surrender at Appomattox Court House.

[1] Four months after the start of the Civil War, on August 24, 1861, Anderson was mustered into the Union Army at Camp Brigham in Dedham, Massachusetts.

[1] In late August 1862, one year after enlisting, Anderson participated in his first engagement, the Second Battle of Bull Run, where the 18th Massachusetts sustained its heaviest casualties of the war.

With the captured Confederate flags on display, Anderson and several other men of the V Corps were decorated by General George Meade, commander of the Army of the Potomac.

Soldiers who chose to reenlist for another three-year term, such as Anderson, and those who still had time left on their original enlistment were merged into the 32nd Regiment Massachusetts Volunteer Infantry.

He returned in time to watch the surrender of the Confederate Army of Northern Virginia on April 9 at Appomattox Court House, effectively ending the war.