Last updated: January 12, 2022
Person
Richard Heron Anderson
"Battles and Leaders of the Civil War: Peoples Pictorial Edition" (NY: The Century Co, 1894), 247
Quick Facts
Significance:
Confederate Major General
Place of Birth:
Sumter County, SC
Date of Birth:
October 7, 1821
Place of Death:
Beaufort, SC
Date of Death:
June 26, 1879
Place of Burial:
Beaufort, SC
Cemetery Name:
St. Helena Episcopal Churchyard
From the Peninsula to Maryland: Anderson's role in the summer of 1862
After graduating from the United States Military Academy in 1842, Richard Heron Anderson served in the Mexican-American War. Soon after the Civil War began, Anderson resigned from the United States Army and accepted a commission as a Major in the 1st South Carolina Infantry. He served under Longstreet during the Peninsula Campaign and by the summer of 1862 Anderson had been promoted to Major General.
During the Maryland Campaign, he led a division in Longstreet's Corps and was at Maryland Heights during the Battle of Harpers Ferry. He was then detached to Crampton's Gap to prevent Union forces from relieving the Union soldiers at Harpers Ferry. Anderson was wounded at the Battle of Antietam but recovered by the end of 1862 and returned to service in time to fight at Fredericksburg.