Robert Anderson

Anderson, Robert

Anderson, Robert (1805–71) Union army officer and hero of Fort Sumter, born in Jefferson County, Kentucky. A slaveholder who was nonetheless devoted to the idea of the Union, Anderson was assigned to command three forts in Charleston, South Carolina in 1860. After succession, having moved from the less defensible Fort Moultrie to Fort Sumter, he refused Confederate Gen. P.G.T. Beauregard's demand for surrender and held the fort for two days under bombardment, finally surrendering on April 14, 1861, with full honors of war. He returned to Fort Sumter on April 14, 1865, to raise the flag he had lowered there four years earlier.

Robert Anderson was said to have sworn in Abraham Lincoln, who saw brief service during the Black Hawk War (1832).

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"Anderson, Robert." The Oxford Essential Dictionary of the U.S. Military. 2001. Encyclopedia.com. 30 May. 2012 <http://www.encyclopedia.com>.

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Robert Anderson

Robert Anderson 1805–71, American army officer, defender of Fort Sumter , b. near Louisville, Ky., grad. West Point, 1825. He fought in the Black Hawk, Seminole, and Mexican wars and was promoted to major in 1857. In Nov., 1860, he took command of the U.S. force in the harbor of Charleston, S.C., where he distinguished himself in the Fort Sumter controversy. Anderson, made a brigadier general in the regular army (May, 1861), commanded the Dept. of Kentucky (June–Oct.). He retired from active service in Oct., 1863. In Feb., 1865, he was brevetted major general for his gallant service in the defense of Fort Sumter.

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"Robert Anderson." The Columbia Encyclopedia, 6th ed.. 2011. Encyclopedia.com. 30 May. 2012 <http://www.encyclopedia.com>.

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"Robert Anderson." The Columbia Encyclopedia, 6th ed.. 2011. Retrieved May 30, 2012 from Encyclopedia.com: http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1E1-AndrsonR.html

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