Richard H . Anderson Richard Heron Anderson ( October 7 , 1821 – June 26 , 1879 ) was a career U . S . Army officer , fighting with distinction in the Mexican - American War . He also served as a Confederate general during the American Civil War , fighting in the Eastern Theater of the conflict and most notably during the 1864 Battle of Spotsylvania Court House . Anderson was also noted for his humility . Early life and career . Anderson was born in the High Hills of Santee at Borough House Plantation ( Hill Crest ) , near the town of Stateburg located in Sumter County , South Carolina . He was the son of Dr . William Wallace Anderson and his wife , Mary Jane Mackensie , and the grandson of American Revolutionary War hero and namesake Richard Anderson . Anderson graduated 40th out of 56 cadets from the United States Military Academy in July 1842 , and was brevetted a second lieutenant in the 1st U . S . Dragoons . He served the cavalry school for practice at the U . S . Army Barracks in Carlisle , Pennsylvania , in 1842 . Anderson spent 1843 on frontier duty in the American West , serving first at Little Rock , Arkansas , and then on garrison duty at Forts Gibson and Washita , both located in the Indian Territory . His regiment escorted the U . S . Indian Agent to Red River in 1843 , and then returned to Fort Washita , remaining there until 1844 . Anderson was promoted to second lieutenant on July 16 , 1844 , and served at Fort Jesup , Louisiana , from 1844 to 1845 . His regiment then joined the expedition for the military occupation of Texas in 1845 , and Anderson was on recruiting duty in 1846 . In the Mexican - American War , Anderson took part in the Siege of Veracruz in March 1847 and then skirmishing near La Hoya on June 9 . He fought in the Battle of Contreras on August 19 , the skirmish near San Agustin Altapulco the following day , and the Battle of Molino del Rey on September 8 . For gallantry during the fighting near San Agustin , he was brevetted to the rank of first lieutenant as of August 17 . Anderson also participated in the fight for and capture of Mexico City from September 12 – 14 . After Mexico , Anderson was promoted to first lieutenant in the 2nd U . S . Dragoons on July 13 , 1848 , was again on recruiting duty in 1849 . He returned to the Carlisle Barracks from 1849 to 1850 , and then was recruiting once more until 1852 . Next came frontier duty in several Texas installations , including at Fort Graham in 1852 to 1853 , at Fort McKavett from 1853 to 1854 , at San Antonio in 1854 , and at Fort McKavett in 1855 . He was promoted to captain on March 3 , 1855 , and was stationed at Fort Riley , Kansas , from 1855 to 1856 . Anderson was still serving in Kansas during the border troubles of 1856 and 1857 , then was recruiting as well as his last stint at the Carlisle Barracks in 1858 . He participated in the Utah War of 1858 and 1859 , and was on duty at Fort Kearny , Nebraska , from 1859 to 1861 . Civil War service . Anderson chose to follow his home state and the Confederate cause , and he resigned from the U . S . Army ( accepted on March 3 , 1861 ) to enter service with the Confederate Army . Anderson accepted a commission as colonel of the 1st South Carolina Infantry Regiment as of January 28 . He was given command of the Charleston harbor area after the capture of Fort Sumter that April . He was promoted to brigadier general on July 19 and transferred to Pensacola , Florida , where he was wounded in the left elbow during the Battle of Santa Rosa Island on October 9 . After recovering , Anderson joined the Confederate Army of the Potomac in February 1862 ( which was absorbed into the Army of Northern Virginia later in the spring ) as a brigade commander . During the Peninsula Campaign , he distinguished himself at the Battle of Williamsburg in May , during the Battle of Seven Pines , and in the Seven Days Battles in June and July . At Glendale , he took temporary command of Maj . Gen . James Longstreet ' s division . Because of his excellent performance on the Peninsula , he was promoted to major general on July 14 , 1862 , and was given command of General Benjamin Huger ' s former division . * As part of Longstreet ' s corps , Anderson fought at Second Bull Run . His division engaged the final Union defensive line around Henry House Hill , but the sun was starting to go down and he did not press the attack . During the Maryland Campaign , General Cadmus Wilcox ' s division was added to Anderson ' s command . At the Battle of Antietam in September 1862 , he was in overall command at the sunken road , or " Bloody Lane " , in the center of the Confederate defense . He was wounded in the thigh and left the battle ( his senior brigadier Roger A . Pryor taking over ) without which his division began to falter and eventually succumb to Union flank attacks that routed them from their position . At the Battle of Fredericksburg that December , his division was not heavily engaged . During the Battle of Chancellorsville in May 1863 , while operating away from Longstreet ' s command ( because Longstreet was on detached duty near Suffolk , Virginia , at the time ) , Anderson pressed the Union left while Lt . Gen . Thomas J . " Stonewall " Jackson attacked the right . Anderson and Maj . Gen . Lafayette McLaws left the main battle line on May 3 , and struck east to check the advance of Union Maj . Gen . John Sedgwick ' s VI Corps that would have led into Gen . Robert E . Lee ' s rear . Following the death of Stonewall Jackson on May 10 , Lee reorganized his army from two into three corps . Anderson was admired enough by Lee to be considered for corps command , but instead his division was assigned to the new Third Corps , commanded by now Lt . Gen A . P . Hill , who outranked Anderson and was one of the senior - most generals in the army . After reorganizing , Anderson retained most of his existing command except for Brig . Gen Lewis Armistead ' s brigade , which was reassigned to George Pickett ' s division . Gettysburg . At the Battle of Gettysburg in July 1863 , Anderson ' s division was third in line of march approaching the town from the west on July 1 , so they arrived late and had little involvement in the start of the battle . On July 2 , the second day of battle , Anderson ' s division attacked near the Union center , following on from attacks by Longstreet ( the divisions of Maj . Gens . John B . Hood and McLaws ) to his right . Anderson ' s right was successful attacking Union Brig . Gen . Andrew A . Humphreys ' s III Corps division along the Emmitsburg Road . His center , under Ambrose R . Wright , penetrated the lightly defended Cemetery Ridge . Carnot Posey moved haltingly and William Mahone did not move from Seminary Ridge at all . Union reinforcements rushed to counter Wright and he was repulsed . Anderson was criticized for his command during this day of battle . He had little effective control of his brigades . On July 3 , Anderson ' s brigades under participated in the waning minutes of Pickett ' s Charge , but both were driven back . Wilderness and Spotsylvania . During the spring of 1864 , at the Battle of the Wilderness , Longstreet was severely wounded and Anderson took command of the First Corps , leading it throughout the Overland Campaign . After the Wilderness he fought well at the Battle of Spotsylvania Court House . Anderson and his corps executed an all - night forced march on May 7 that secured that important position ( reinforcing the Confederate cavalry earlier sent there ) , and arrived just before Union soldiers did . Reaching and defending this spot denied the Federals a way around Lee ' s army towards Richmond , and Anderson held it during heavy fighting from May 8 – 12 . Anderson then fought at the Battle of Cold Harbor in early June , and participated in the rest of the Army of Northern Virginia ' s operations to the south of Petersburg , Virginia , from mid - June until October . Anderson was promoted to temporary lieutenant general on May 31 . When Longstreet returned from his convalescence on October 19 , 1864 , Lee created the new Fourth Corps , which Anderson led through the Siege of Petersburg and the retreat towards Appomattox Court House in 1865 . Because of several attacks by Federal cavalry nipping at his corps , Anderson was forced to slow and even stop from time to time and beat off the attacks . This caused the Confederates to become isolated from the rest of Lee ' s army moving west , and they were now the army ' s rear guard . The corps finally halted and fought at Sayler ' s Creek on April 6 which ended in a rout , and as Lee witnessed it he exclaimed " Has the army been dissolved ? " As the corps ' survivors reformed and rejoined the army , what was left of the Fourth Corps was merged with the Second Corps on April 8 . This left Anderson without a command and he proceeded home to South Carolina . Anderson was pardoned on September 27 , 1865 , although there is no record of his parole . Postbellum career and death . After the war Anderson was a planter in Stateburg from 1866 to 1868 , attempting to grow cotton . Having no agricultural background this effort ended in bankruptcy . He then became a worker and later an agent of the South Carolina Railroad , working out of Camden from 1868 to 1878 . However Anderson was fired from this position , and next served as a state phosphate inspector / agent of South Carolina in 1879 . Anderson was married twice . In 1850 he wed Sarah Gibson , and the couple had two children together , a son and a daughter ; after her death he married Martha Mellette on December 24 , 1874 . Five years later Anderson died at the age of 57 in Beaufort , South Carolina , and is buried there in the churchyard cemetery of St . Helena ' s Episcopal Church .