Richard Heron Anderson was born on October 7, 1821 in Statesburg, South Carolina, United States, the son of Dr. William Wallace Anderson and Mary (Mackensie) Anderson. His grandfather was Richard Anderson who fought through the Revolutionary War as an officer of the Maryland Line. It was perhaps from this ancestor that he inherited his taste for the military profession.
He entered the Military Academy at West Point, July 1, 1838 and graduated four years later.
Upon graduating from the Academy he was assigned to the Dragoons, in which he served until his resignation in March 1861. With the exception of the Mexican War practically his entire service was on the western frontier. As a second-lieutenant of the 2nd Dragoons he took part in Gen. Scott's operations from Vera Cruz to the City of Mexico and received the brevet of first-lieutenant for gallant and meritorious conduct in an engagement with the enemy at San Augustin.
In accordance with a resolution of the legislature of the State of South Carolina ten years later he was presented by the Governor with a sword inscribed "South Carolina to Capt. Richard Heron Anderson, a memorial of gallant conduct in service at Vera Cruz, Cherubusco, Molino del Rey, Mexico. " When South Carolina seceded he resigned his commission and became colonel of the 16t South Carolina Regiment of infantry. During the siege of Fort Sumter his regiment supported the artillery, and, when Beauregard went north to command the Army of Virginia, Anderson succeeded to the command of Charleston.
On July 19, 1861, he was commissioned brigadier-general in the Confederate army, and in August he was sent to Pensacola as principal assistant to Gen. Bragg. In October he directed the only engagement in that territory--the night attack on the encampment of the Wilson Zouaves of New York near Fort Pickens.
The more important operations in Virginia and Tennessee caused the withdrawal of the Confederate forces from Pensacola early in 1862, and Anderson was sent to Virginia to command a brigade in the division of his classmate Longstreet. In the Confederate retreat from Yorktown he was assigned four brigades and directed to halt the advance of the Union troops at Williamsburg to allow the withdrawal of the army; this he did so successfully as to receive commendation from Longstreet.
On July 14, 1862 Anderson was commissioned major-general and placed in command of the division formerly commanded by Huger. When McClellan's army withdrew from the Peninsula and Longstreet followed Jackson northward to operate against Pope, Anderson's division was left to cover Richmond until Lee was assured that McClellan would not return. Anderson was then directed to join the army and reached it just in time to take part under Longstreet in the last day's operations of the second battle of Bull Run or Manassas in which the Union army was driven from the field.
When the Confederate army crossed the Potomac and reached Frederick, the divisions of McLaws and Anderson were detached by Longstreet to invest Harper's Ferry on the north and assist Jackson in capturing its garrison. In these operations it became necessary for Anderson's division to check the advance of the Union columns through Crampton's Gap until the surrender of Harper's Ferry. This it did successfully with the aid of some of McLaws's brigades.
After the fall of Harper's Ferry, McLaws and Anderson crossed the river at that point and moved up the south bank of the Potomac, reaching Sharpsburg, after a long march, on the morning of the battle of Antietam. Here Anderson's division reinforced the division of D. H. Hill at the "Bloody Lane, " but Anderson himself took little part in the battle, as he was wounded immediately after his arrival.
Before the battle of Fredericksburg he had resumed command, but as he occupied the extreme left of the Confederate line his division was not attacked. During the battle of Chancellorsville in the spring of 1863, Longstreet being in southern Virginia with two of his four divisions, those of McLaws and Anderson remained under the direct command of Lee. With these two divisions Lee held the left of the Union army in check while Jackson made his famous march to attack its extreme right.
Anderson and McLaws took part in the final operations of the day and assisted in winning the battle. While the Union army was intrenching its position on the south bank of the Rappahannock, Anderson and McLaws went to the assistance of Early who was being attacked by the 6th corps which crossed the river below Fredericksburg. The combined counter-attack forced this corps to recross the river.
After the battle of Chancellorsville, in which Jackson was mortally wounded, Lee decided to reorganize his army into three corps, and in his letter to President Davis recommended Ewell and A. P. Hill to be the new corps commanders. In this same letter he said: "R. H. Anderson and J. G. Hood are also capital officers. They are improving too and will make good corps commanders if necessary. "
In the reorganization of the army Anderson's division was detached from Longstreet's corps and assigned to that of A. P. Hill. This was probably because Lee considered Hood, Anderson, and Early his best division commanders and desired one in each corps. In the battle of Gettysburg, Hill's corps was the first to reach the field, but as Anderson's division formed the rear of his column it was employed only as a reserve in the first day's fighting. On the second, however, it was to engage with Longstreet's two divisions in the great advance of the Confederate right wing. For this purpose it was moved forward in the morning to Seminary Ridge and drove back the regiments of the 3rd Union corps which had been sent forward to the ridge later occupied by Longstreet.
This enabled Longstreet to bring up and deploy his troops before his presence was discovered by any of the Union commanders. About noon Anderson was in position ready to attack, but was obliged to wait several hours for Longstreet to get into position. When Longstreet made his attack four brigades of Anderson's division formed his left. Anderson's attack was made over practically the same ground covered by Pickett's on the following day, but in front of him were two Union lines--Humphreys's division of the 3rd corps reinforced by two regiments of the 2nd corps along the Emmitsburg Road, and in their rear on Cemetery Ridge two divisions of the 2nd corps.
Notwithstanding the obstinate defense of Humphreys's division, one of Anderson's brigades actually reached the batteries on Cemetery Ridge, but being nearly surrounded was soon compelled to retreat. On the third day Anderson's brigades supported the attack of the divisions of Pickett and Pettigrew. In the battle of the Wilderness which opened the campaign of 1864 Longstreet was badly wounded on May 6, and as Hood had been transferred from his corps, Lee selected Anderson to command it until Longstreet was able to return to duty.
On the afternoon of May 7 Lee learned that Grant was sending his trains southward and was probably preparing to move his army in that direction. He therefore directed Anderson, whose corps was on the right, to move to Spottsylvania. Gen. Pendleton, who was Lee's chief of artillery, volunteered to go to Anderson and show him the road he was to follow. Pendleton says he learned from Anderson that the movement was ordered to begin at 3 a. m. , May 8, but he was ready to move at 11 p. m. , May 7.
Probably assured that Lee would approve, he started the movement at once and thus secured for Lee the important position of Spottsylvania. In his memoirs Grant says: "It is impossible to say now what would have been the result if Lee's orders had been obeyed as given; but it is certain that we would have been in Spottsylvania and between him and his capital. My belief is that there would have been a race between the armies to see which could reach Richmond first, and the Army of the Potomac would have had the shorter line. "
In accordance with his duties Anderson was commissioned with the temporary rank of lieutenant-general, May 31, 1864. After Longstreet's return, Anderson took over the command of the divisions of Hoke and Bushrod Johnson which had been under Beauregard, but as Hoke's division was soon sent to North Carolina his command was reduced to a single division occasionally reinforced by a division from one of the other corps. When the final retreat began on the night of April 2, 1865, Anderson was on the extreme right of the Confederate army in command of the divisions of Pickett and Johnson and Fitz Lee's cavalry.
On April 5 the Confederate army was concentrated at Amelia Court House and on the afternoon of that day began its further retreat; the corps of Longstreet and Hill, under Longstreet, with the cavalry, formed the van, followed by Anderson, Ewell, and Gordon. The trains were to follow a road to the north. That same night the 2nd, 5th, and 6th corps of the Army of the Potomac with Sheridan's cavalry were at Jetersville, seven miles west of Amelia Court House and only half that distance from the Confederate line of retreat, with orders to move on Amelia Court House in the morning. By a night march Longstreet's command reached Rice Station, twelve miles west of Jetersville, without meeting any opposition.
Anderson, who was following, was not so fortunate. Being discovered on the morning of April 6, and attacked by Sheridan's cavalry, he halted his command to beat off the attack and protect the trains passing in his rear. Since no such delay had been contemplated by Lee, a gap was opened between the corps of Longstreet and Anderson which enabled Sheridan with the greater part of his corps to cut across the line of retreat. When the trains had passed and Gordon's corps had come up and followed the trains, Anderson, followed by Ewell, proceeded on his way and crossed Sailors' Creek.
Here in the afternoon Anderson and Ewell were attacked in front and flank by Sheridan and in rear by the 6th corps. As the Confederates were greatly outnumbered and had no artillery the issue was not long in doubt. Ewell was obliged to surrender with his entire command; Anderson's two divisions were badly shattered, but about two-thirds of his men managed to reach Longstreet. At Farmville the Confederate army was reorganized and Anderson's troops were assigned to Longstreet and Gordon; therefore his name does not appear on the rolls of the Army of Virginia, which surrendered two days later.
The only report of Longstreet's corps while under his orders is a colorless diary of its operations, but possibly he was too modest to claim credit for the deeds of a corps whose division and brigade commanders had been trained by Longstreet and whose high esprit de corps was due to him.
After the war Anderson was employed by the South Carolina Railroad until appointed state inspector of phosphates, which position he retained until his death, June 26, 1879.
Anderson won the brevet of first lieutenant in the Mexican War, becoming first lieutenant in 1848 and captain in 1855; he took part in the following year in the Kansas troubles. At the outbreak of the Civil War in 1861, he resigned from the U. S. Army and entered the Confederate service as a brigadier general, being promoted major general on July 14, 1862. Except for a few months spent with the army under Braxton Bragg in 1862, Anderson’s service was wholly in the Army of Northern Virginia under General Robert E. Lee. In the Wilderness campaign, in May 1864, he succeeded to the command of the 1st Corps when Longstreet was wounded. After saving Spotsylvania by a brilliant night march on May 7-8, at the outset of the punishing Battle of Spotsylvania Courthouse, Anderson was given the rank of temporary lieutenant general. He later participated in the defense of Petersburg and Richmond. Under Anderson, Longstreet's corps sustained its high reputation at Spottsylvania, Cold Harbor, and in the various battles around Petersburg and Richmond until Longstreet returned to duty in October.
As a brigade and division commander Anderson showed marked ability, as Generals Lee and Longstreet both testified in their reports. As a corps commander Lee apparently ranked him below his other corps commanders, since he entrusted the defense of Petersburg mainly to A. P. Hill and sent Early to exercise independent command in the Shenandoah Valley.
As a military leader Anderson lacked both the magnetism and the striking personality which win the loyalty of officers and men, and he failed to cultivate this loyalty, as did Longstreet, by reports of engagements and battles in which attention was called to the gallantry and achievements of organizations and individuals entitled to special mention.
Anderson was distinguished for the promptness, courage, and skill with which he and his division executed every order. "
He was too modest to claim credit for the deeds of a corps whose division and brigade commanders had been trained by Longstreet and whose high esprit de corps was due to him.
In 1850 he married Sarah Gibson, daughter of John B. Gibson, chief justice of Pennsylvania, and by her he had two children; she died in 1872 and in 1874 he married Martha Mellette, who survived him.
She died at the age of five.
