I am going to concur regarding the Medal of Honor reference.
One thing to note, just because his sons served the CSA does not mean that he did. It was not uncommon for a household to be divided at that time.
Here is another listing to check:
http://www.amtour.net/downloadable/ConfederateMedalWinners.pdf
It is important to note that although approved by the Confederate Congress and President Davis, no physical MoH awards were ever presented to Confederate soldiers due to the economic situation of the south during and after the War.
Therefore, this may have been a Federal MoH medal from a military campaign prior to the War of Northern Aggression (due to his age during 1861-1863). If I am not mistaken he "could" have participated in the Mexican-American Wars of 1846-1848 or assisted the Texans during their war with Mexico 1835-1836. Of course without confirmation, these are of course assumptions. You should be able to look up this person's service record through the U.S. Park Service "Soldiers & Sailors System" if you have most of his information.