Bio of South Carolina's Highest Ranking Confederate Infantry Officer

Description: Lieutenant General Richard Heron Anderson Lee’s Noble Soldier By Joseph Cantey Elliott; 1985, 1st edition; published by Morningside House, Dayton, OH.; 172pp. in very good condition (no dust jacket issued.) Out-of-Print! Richard "Fighting Dick" Heron Anderson was born on October 7, 1821 at "Hillcrest" in Sumter County, South Carolina. He graduated from the United States Military Academy as a member of the class of 1842. His class produced an astounding 22 Civil War generals from its 37 living graduates at the outbreak of hostilities. Anderson saw service in Mexico, winning a brevet to First Lieutenant there. He was a captain of dragoons when he resigned his commission on March 3, 1861. As a major in the Confederate regular army, he was present for the battle at Fort Sumter to open the War. On July 18, he was promoted to general and took over command of Charleston, succeeding PGT Beauregard. In 1862, he was sent to the Virginia theater and took over command of a brigade under James Longstreet. On July 14, 1862, Anderson was promoted to major general. He then took command a division under Longstreet. Anderson commanded a division in all of the Army of Northern Virginia's major conflicts under Longstreet until the reorganization of the Army. Anderson was wounded twice during the Civil War. The first occurred at Santa Rosa Island in Florida on October 8-9, 1861. A musket ball broke his left arm and he was disabled for several weeks, though he returned to take part in the action at Fort Pickens. The second wound occurred with the Army of Northern Virginia. At Sharpsburg, Anderson was wounded in the thigh and fell from his horse. He returned to the army on December 11 and fought at Fredericksburg. In the reorganization of the ANV following Chancellorsville, Anderson assumed the command of a division in A.P. Hill's Third Corps. He commanded the division with little success at Gettysburg, but when Longstreet was wounded in May of 1864 at the Wilderness, Anderson became his successor upon the recommendation of Moxley Sorrel, the First Corps chief of staff. Anderson was promoted to the temporary rank of lieutenant general. Perhaps his best day came in "winning the race" to Spotsylvania. When Longstreet returned, Anderson was assigned to command another part of the Richmond defenses. His command was labeled the "Fourth Corps." Anderson's command was shattered and virtually destroyed at the battle of Sayler's Creek on April 6, 1865. He managed to evade capture, however, and rejoined the army as a general without a command. For this reason, Anderson was relieved a day before Appomattox and authorized to return home to South Carolina. Anderson did not lead a happy post-war career; he struggled against poverty but refused a offer of command from the Egyptian Khedive. At the time of his sudden death, on June 26, 1879 in Beaufort, he was serving as a state phosphate agent. He is buried in the churchyard of St. Helena's Episcopal Church there.

Price: 32 USD

Location: Columbia, South Carolina

End Time: 2024-11-15T20:17:46.000Z

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