Life span: 06/14/1805 to 10/26/1871Dickinson Connection: Appointed to command Fort Sumter by President James Buchanan (Class of 1809)TabsLife SummaryFull name: Robert AndersonPlace of Birth: Louisville, KYBurial Place: West Point Cemetery, United States Military Academy, West Point, NYBirth Date Certainty: ExactDeath Date Certainty: ExactGender: MaleRace: WhiteSectional choice: NorthOrigins: Slave StateNo. of Spouses: 1No. of Children: 4Family: Richard Clough Anderson (father), Sarah Marshall (mother), Elizabeth Bayard Clinch (wife, 1845)Education: West Point (US Military Academy)Occupation: MilitaryMilitary: US military (Pre-Civil War)Union Army Note Cards Robert Anderson (American National Biography) ScholarshipAs the nation became increasingly divided by sectional interests, Anderson, who until 1860 owned a few slaves in his wife's native state of Georgia, wrote, "In this controversy between the North and the South, my sympathies are entirely with the South." Although he believed that in the long run secession was probably inevitable, Anderson was devoted to the Union, and he opposed immediate demands for separation and what he saw as extremism on both sides. This combination of southern sympathies and Union loyalty led to Anderson's being assigned in November 1860 to command the three Federal forts at Charleston, South Carolina, where cautious tactfulness was needed. Aware that Fort Moultrie, at which he was headquartered, was indefensible, he vainly sought reinforcements and specific orders from the James Buchanan administration, which was strongly influenced by southerners. South Carolina's secession on 20 December convinced Anderson that he should move to Fort Sumter, an incomplete but stronger post on an island in Charleston Harbor. He did so secretly on 26 December and then rejected all demands that he evacuate the fort. Lowell H. Harrison, "Anderson, Robert," American National Biography Online, February 2000, http://www.anb.org/articles/04/04-00021.html. Events Date span begin Life span End Event 07/17/1860 07/17/1860 Congressional Commission to examine the methods of training at West Point meets for the first time 11/18/1860 11/18/1860 Kentuckian Major Robert Anderson assigned to take command of Fort Moultrie in South Carolina 11/28/1860 11/28/1860 Commander of federal forces in Charleston, South Carolina asks again for area forts to be manned 12/11/1860 12/11/1860 In Charleston, Major Anderson is ordered not to provoke but also to resist attack 12/26/1860 12/26/1860 Under cover of night in Charleston Harbor, Major Anderson consolidates his forces at Fort Sumter 12/27/1860 12/27/1860 Secretary of War Floyd demands that the Cabinet permit withdrawal of federal forces from Charleston 12/27/1860 12/27/1860 South Carolina militia occupy Fort Moultrie and Castle Pinckney in Charleston Harbor 12/30/1860 12/30/1860 Major Anderson requests safe passage for the soldiers' families at Fort Sumter before any attack begins 01/05/1861 01/05/1861 In Charleston, South Carolina, Eliza Anderson pays a surprise visit to her husband at Fort Sumter 01/11/1861 01/11/1861 In Charleston Harbor, South Carolina authorities formally request the surrender of Fort Sumter 01/19/1861 01/19/1861 Fort Sumter commander refuses shipment of fresh produce from South Carolina authorities 01/19/1861 01/19/1861 Major Anderson requests safe passage for the women and children of his men at Fort Sumter 02/01/1861 02/01/1861 Dependents of the federal forces at Fort Sumter transfer to a waiting steamship for evacuation 02/03/1861 02/03/1861 Dependents of the federal forces at Fort Sumter sail for New York from Charleston Harbor 04/11/1861 04/11/1861 General Beauregard demands that Major Anderson surrender Fort Sumter immediately 04/12/1861 04/12/1861 Beauregard again demands that Major Anderson surrender Fort Sumter immediately 04/12/1861 04/13/1861 Confederate artillery bombard Fort Sumter 04/13/1861 04/13/1861 Major Anderson accepts a ceasefire and prepares to evacuate Fort Sumter 04/14/1861 04/14/1861 Major Anderson and his men evacuate Fort Sumter and sail for New York 04/18/1861 04/18/1861 Major Anderson and his command arrive in New York Harbor 04/20/1861 04/20/1861 Remarkable gathering of 100,000 New Yorkers in Union Square in support of suppressing the rebellion 09/18/1861 09/18/1861 Robert Anderson, hero of Fort Sumter, takes command of Kentucky's military forces 10/08/1861 10/08/1861 William Tecumseh Sherman takes command of the Department of the Cumberland, replacing Robert Anderson 04/14/1865 04/14/1865 In Charleston Harbor, General Robert Anderson re-hoists the United States flag over Fort Sumter Major TopicsFort SumterMexican WarSecession Documents Author Docs Date Title 05/19/1861 Robert Anderson to Abraham Lincoln, May 19, 1861 Subject Docs Date Title 12/25/1860 Bangor (ME) Whig and Courier, “Have We a Traitor at the Head,” December 25, 1860 01/03/1861 New York Times, “Honor to Major Anderson,” January 3, 1861 01/06/1861 New York Herald, “Salutes in Honor of Major Anderson,” January 6, 1861 01/08/1861 Boston (MA) Herald, “The Crisis Approaching!,” January 8, 1861 01/15/1861 New York Herald, “Ex-Secretary Floyd on the Crisis,” January 15, 1861 01/17/1861 Fayetteville (NC) Observer, “An Incident at Fort Sumter,” January 17, 1861 01/22/1861 Chicago (IL) Tribune, “A Prayer For Major Anderson,” January 22, 1861 03/01/1861 New York Times, “From Fort Sumter,” March 1, 1861 03/09/1861 Abraham Lincoln to Winfield Scott, March 9, 1861 03/11/1861 Winfield Scott to Abraham Lincoln, March 11, 1861 03/12/1861 New York Times, “A Loyal Regiment,” March 12, 1861 03/13/1861 Cleveland (OH) Herald, “Proposed Evacuation of Fort Sumter,” March 13, 1861 03/15/1861 Chicago (IL) Tribune, "Fort Sumter," March 15, 1861 03/18/1861 New York Times, “About Fort Sumpter [Sumter],” March 18, 1861 03/22/1861 Charleston (SC) Mercury, “Fort Sumter,” March 22, 1861 03/23/1861 New York Times, “A Not Very Civil War,” March 23, 1861 04/13/1861 Chicago (IL) Tribune, “War Inaugurated!,” April 13, 1861 04/14/1861 General P. G. T. Beauregard's General Order Number 20, April 14, 1861, Charleston, South Carolina 04/15/1861 Cleveland (OH) Herald, “The Dread Arbitrament of War,” April 15, 1861 04/15/1861 Entry by Josie Underwood, April 15, 1861 04/19/1861 Charleston (SC) Mercury, “Henry Ward Beecher on War,” April 19, 1861 07/04/1861 Abraham Lincoln, Message to the Congress in Special Session, July 4, 1861 10/13/1861 New York Herald, “General Sherman in Kentucky,” October 13, 1861 11/02/1862 Mary Todd Lincoln to Abraham Lincoln, November 2, 1862 03/27/1865 Edwin Stanton, Orders for ceremonies at Fort Sumter, Charleston Harbor, South Carolina 04/14/1865 Reverend Henry Ward Beecher's remarks at the ceremony restoring the flag to Fort Sumter, South Carolina, April 14, 1865 Addressee Docs Date Title 05/01/1861 Abraham Lincoln to Robert Anderson, May 1, 1861 Images Robert Anderson, detail Robert Anderson, Eliza Clinch Anderson, and their son Robert Anderson, Brady image Robert Anderson, Brady image, detail Bibliography Chicago Style Entry Link Klein, Maury. Days of Defiance: Sumter, Secession, and the Coming of the Civil War. New York: Alfred A. Knopf, 1997. View Record Swanberg, W. A. First Blood: The Story of Fort Sumter. New York: Scribner Press, 1957. View Record
Robert Anderson (American National Biography) ScholarshipAs the nation became increasingly divided by sectional interests, Anderson, who until 1860 owned a few slaves in his wife's native state of Georgia, wrote, "In this controversy between the North and the South, my sympathies are entirely with the South." Although he believed that in the long run secession was probably inevitable, Anderson was devoted to the Union, and he opposed immediate demands for separation and what he saw as extremism on both sides. This combination of southern sympathies and Union loyalty led to Anderson's being assigned in November 1860 to command the three Federal forts at Charleston, South Carolina, where cautious tactfulness was needed. Aware that Fort Moultrie, at which he was headquartered, was indefensible, he vainly sought reinforcements and specific orders from the James Buchanan administration, which was strongly influenced by southerners. South Carolina's secession on 20 December convinced Anderson that he should move to Fort Sumter, an incomplete but stronger post on an island in Charleston Harbor. He did so secretly on 26 December and then rejected all demands that he evacuate the fort. Lowell H. Harrison, "Anderson, Robert," American National Biography Online, February 2000, http://www.anb.org/articles/04/04-00021.html.