DOB/DOD: 1843 * (Poquonock Br, Groton, CT) – July 15, 1905 (Johnson City, TN); 61 years old
MARITAL STATUS: Unmarried
ENLISTMENT: August 17, 1862, in Windsor, Connecticut.
WOUNDED: Wounded on September 27, 1864, at Fort Harrison, Virginia.
DISCHARGE: Mustered out on June 16, 1865.
* The exact Date of Birth is unknown.
FAMILY: Born to Daniel (1814-1892) and Mary E. Imlay Buck (1819-1862). Three brothers, Daniel W. (1840-1863), William J. (1842-?), and Charles E. (1845-1880). One sister, Mary E. (1847-1914).
OTHER: One of five members of the 21st Connecticut to receive the Medal of Honor.
Lt Buck was working as a laborer in Patten, Maine, when he checked into the National Home of Disabled Soldiers in Johnson City, Tennessee.
MEDAL OF HONOR CITATION
AWARDED FOR ACTIONS DURING: Civil War
BRANCH OF SERVICE: Army
UNIT: Company A, 21st Connecticut Infantry
DATE OF ISSUE AND PRESENTATION: April 6, 1865
AGE ON THE DAY OF THE EVENT: 20
CITATION:
The President of the United States of America, in the name of Congress, takes pleasure in presenting the Medal of Honor to Corporal Frederick Clarence Buck, United States Army, for extraordinary heroism on 29 September 1864, while serving with Company A, 21st Connecticut Infantry, in action at Chapin’s Farm, Virginia. Although wounded, Corporal Buck refused to leave the field until the fight closed.
Lieutenant Buck spent the last three months of his life in the National Home of Disabled Soldiers in Johnson City, Tennessee. He died at 61 years old due to heart disease, specifically, “cardiac dilation and mitral insufficiency.” His grandmother, Susan Buck of Railroad Avenue in Wethersfield, Connecticut, was notified by telegram on July 16, 1905.
The ninth of eleven branches of the National Home for Disabled Volunteer Soldiers (NHDVS), the Mountain Branch was authorized in 1901. The first resident arrived in 1903, a year before the home officially opened. Civil War veterans were the largest population initially. The sprawling complex in Johnson City, Tennessee, covered some 400 acres. Architect Joseph H. Freelander designed the campus, which included administrative and hospital buildings, barracks, staff housing, a mess hall, a chapel, two lakes, and a cemetery. The buildings were constructed in the Beaux Arts style using local timber, brick, and limestone. Freelander’s plan remained unchanged until the care of World War I veterans required the construction of new facilities and the repurposing of old buildings. The National Homes were merged with the U.S. Veterans Bureau and Bureau of Pensions to form the Veterans Administration (now the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs) in 1930.
Buried in Mountain Home National Cemetery, 215 Heroes Drive, Mountain Home, Tennessee; Section F, Row 1, Grave 9. Photo courtesy of Ancestry.com.
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