Richard H. Anderson Quick Facts

Name Meaning:

Richard is of Old German origin
and means “powerful leader”.

Vital Stats:

Birthday: October 7th, 1821
Birth Name: Richard Herron Anderson
Birthplace: Sumter County,
South Carolina
Date of Death: June 26th, 1879
Cause of Death:
Stroke or cerebral hemorrhage
Place of Death:
Beaufort, South Carolina
Nationality: American
Ancestry: English and Scottish
Occupation Before Civil War:
Career army officer in U.S. Army,
West Point graduate
Occupation During Civil War:
Confederate Army officer,
rising to Lieutenant General, Corps
Commander in Army of Northern Virginia
Occupation after Civil War:
Farmer, cotton planter, railroad
employee, South Carolina state
phosphate agent and inspector (the
state had extensive post war mining of
phosphates used in fertilizers).

Major Battles:

Peninsula Campaign, 2nd Bull Run,
Antietam, Fredericksburg, Chancellorsville,
Gettysburg, Overland Campaign, Siege of Petersburg,
Appomattox Campaign

Relatives:

Father: William Wallace Anderson (1789-1864)
Mother: Mary Jane Mackensie Anderson (1788-1832)
Sister: Mary Heron Anderson (1820-1825)
Brother: Edward Mackensie Anderson (d. 1862)
Brother: William Wallace Anderson (1824-1911)
Sister: Mary Hooper Anderson
Brother: Franklin Anderson
Brother: John Benjamin Anderson
Edward Anderson served in on Richard Anderson’s
staff and was killed at the Battle of Williamsburg
during the Peninsula Campaign. William Wallace Anderson
(his brother) was a medical doctor in the Confederate Army
and had served as a surgeon in the U.S. Army before the Civil War

Romance:

Married: Sarah Gibson (1830-August 11th, 1872) in 1850.
Married: Martha Mellette (1855-October 18th, 1928) on
December 24th, 1874.

Children:

Son: Richard Gibson Anderson (April 2nd, 1852-December 2nd, 1898)
Daughter: Sarah Gibson Anderson (December 19th, 1857-November 4th, 1949)

Resources:

The Life Of Lieutenant General Richard Heron Anderson: Of The Confederate States Army by C. Irvine Walker

Generals in Gray: Lives of the Confederate Commanders by Ezra J. Warner