Robert
Anderson was
born in 1825. After graduating from the Military Academy at West
Point he saw action in the Seminole
War (1838-42) and the Mexican War
(1846-48) where he received a brevet for bravery. Seriously wounded
in the conflict with Mexico, Anderson served on a number of boards
and commissions before taking command of the defenses of Charleston
harbor in 1860.
President Jefferson Davis took the view
that after a state seceded, federal forts became the property of the
state. On 12th April, 1861, General Pierre
T. Beauregard demanded that Anderson surrender Fort
Sumter. Anderson replied that he would be willing to leave the
fort in two days when his supplies were exhausted. Beauregard rejected
this offer and ordered his Confederate troops to open fire. After
34 hours of bombardment the fort was severely damaged and Anderson
was forced to surrender.
Anderson was promoted to the rank of brigadier general and served
as commander of the Department of Kentucky (28th May to 15th August,
1861) and Department of Cumberland (15th August, 1861 to 8th October,
1861). Anderson, who had never fully recovered fully from the wounds
he received in the Mexican War was forced
to retire from the United States Army on
27th October, 1863.
Major General Anderson was invited to return to Fort
Sumter when it officially returned to federal control on 14th
April, 1865. Robert Anderson died in 1871.
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