Major Robert Anderson

Robert Anderson
Lithograph of Major Robert Anderson
Born	(1805-06-14)June 14, 1805 Louisville, Kentucky, United States
Died	October 26, 1871(1871-10-26) (aged 66) Nice, France
Place of burial	West Point Cemetery
Allegiance	United States of America Union
Service/branch	United States Army Union Army
Years of service	1825–1863
Rank	Brigadier General Brevet Major General
Unit	3rd Regiment of Artillery 1st Regiment of Artillery
Commands held	Fort Sumter Department of the Cumberland Fort Adams
Battles/wars	Black Hawk War Second Seminole War Mexican–American War American Civil War Battle of Fort Sumter

Robert Anderson (June 14, 1805 – October 26, 1871) was a United States Army officer during the American Civil War. To many, he was a hero who defied the Confederacy and upheld Union honor in the first battle of the American Civil War at Fort Sumter in April 1861. The Confederates bombarded the fort and forced its surrender to start the war. After Sumter fell, Anderson was promoted to brigadier general and given command of Union forces in Kentucky, but was removed late in 1861 and reassigned to Rhode Island, before retiring from military service in 1863.

Anderson was born at "Soldier's Retreat," the Anderson family estate near Louisville, Kentucky. His father, Richard Clough Anderson, Sr. (1750–1826), served in the Continental Army as an aide-de-camp to the Marquis de Lafayette during the American Revolutionary War, and was a charter member of the Society of the Cincinnati; his mother, Sarah Marshall (1779–1854), was a cousin of John Marshall, the fourth Chief Justice of the United States. He graduated from the United States Military Academy (West Point) in 1825, and received a commission as a second lieutenant in the 3rd Regiment of Artillery.

A few months after graduation, he became private secretary to his older brother Richard Clough Anderson, Jr., who was serving as the US Minister to Gran Colombia. He served in the Black Hawk War of 1832 as a colonel of Illinois volunteers, where he had the distinction of twice mustering Abraham Lincoln in and once out of army service. He also was in charge of transporting Black Hawk to Jefferson Barracks after his capture, assisted by Jefferson Davis