Robert Anderson (1805-1871) - Find a Grave Memorial

Civil War Union Brigadier General. He was a long-time career United States Army officer who is best remembered in history as being in command of Fort Sumter, Charleston, South Carolina when Confederates bombarded it on April 12, 1861, starting the Civil War. A graduate of the United States Military Academy at West Point, New York in 1825, he placed 15th of 37, and his classmates included future Union Generals Charles F. Smith and William R. Montgomery, as well as future Confederate Generals Daniel S. Donelson and Benjamin Huger. His subsequent service was spent mostly in the artillery arm, which he fought in during the Black Hawk War, the various Seminole Wars in Florida, and in the Mexican War (he would receive two brevets for gallantry there). Promoted to Major in 1857, he was placed in command of the forts in Charleston Harbor in November 1860. In April 1861, after a number of Southern states had formed the Confederate States of America, he was presented with a formal surrender demands by Confederate authorities in Charleston, which he refused. After 34 hours of constant shelling, he would capitulate, but not before he saluted the flag with a 50-gun salute. The rebel bombardment and his defense of the Fort constituted the true beginning of the Civil War, and the commander of the Confederate forces that shelled the Fort, General P.G.T. Beauregard, had been taught and mentored by Robert Anderson at West Point. Promoted to Brigadier General after his exchange, his successive Civil War service was brief. General Anderson commanded forces in his native Kentucky for a time, fell ill, and was retired in 1863. When the South surrendered in 1865, General Anderson was detailed to raise the American flag over Fort Sumter exactly four years after he was forced to surrender it. He received the brevet of Major General, US Regular Army in April 1865.

Bio by: RPD2