Thomas Anderson (Medal of Honor)

Thomas A. Anderson (July 12, 1841 – September 8, 1912) was a United States soldier and native of Pennsylvania who fought with the Union Army as a corporal in Company I of the 1st West Virginia Cavalry during the American Civil War. He was awarded his nation's highest award for valor, the U.S. Medal of Honor, for capturing the flag of a Confederate regiment during the Battle of Appomattox Station on April 8, 1865.[1] The award was conferred on May 3 of that same year.[2]

Thomas A. Anderson
Born(1841-07-12)July 12, 1841
Washington County, Pennsylvania
DiedSeptember 8, 1912(1912-09-08) (aged 71)
Amwell Township, Washington County, Pennsylvania
Allegiance United States of America
Service/branchUnited States Army (Union Army)
RankCorporal
Unit 1st Regiment West Virginia Volunteer Cavalry, Company I
Battles/warsAmerican Civil War:
Awards Medal of Honor

Formative years

Born on July 12, 1841, Thomas A. Anderson was a native of Washington County, Pennsylvania.[3]

Civil War

On November 18, 1861, at the age of 20, Thomas A. Anderson enrolled for military service at Wheeling, West Virginia. He then officially mustered in for duty with Company I of the 1st West Virginia Cavalry.[4] Assigned to guard lines of the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad in what is now West Virginia during the opening months of 1862, Anderson and his fellow 1st Virginia Cavalrymen were directed to combat assignments beginning that spring. After fighting at Winchester, Virginia (March 23), they engaged the enemy in operations at Monterey (April 12), Buffalo Gap (May 3), McDowell (May 7), Strasburg (June 1), Cross Keys (June 8), Port Republic (June 9), and White Plains (June 10). Marched east of the Appalachian Mountains, they then re-engaged with the enemy in Culpeper, Fauquier and Fairfax counties, including battles at Cedar Mountain (August 9) and Orange Court House (August 13). Next engaged in Union General John Pope's Northern Virginia Campaign, they participated in operations along the Rapidan River (August 18), Freeman's Ford/Hazel River (August 22), Kelly's Ford (August 22), Sulphur Springs (August 23), Waterloo Bridge (August 23–August 25), and Gainesville (August 28), as well as in the Second Battle of Bull Run (August 28–30). Also engaged in operations at Lewis Ford (August 30), they then fought in the Battle of Chantilly (September 1).[5]

The year of 1863 proved to be an intense one for Anderson and his fellow 1st West Virginia Cavalrymen. Ordered to march for Pennsylvania during the early summer, they participated in the Union Army's tide-turning Gettysburg Campaign, including the battles of Hanover (June 30) and Gettysburg (July 1–3), and then helped to drive Confederate troops from Pennsylvania into Maryland and Virginia, engaging in the battles of Williamsport (July 6–16), Boonsboro (July 8), and Mine Run (November 27–December 2). Two days before Christmas that year, Anderson then re-enlisted with the 1st West Virginia Cavalry at New Creek, West Virginia, earning the designation of "Veteran Volunteer".[6]

"Honorably Discharged" medal presented to Union soldiers who served with West Virginia military units during the American Civil War.

After emerging from winter quarters in 1864, Anderson and his fellow 1st West Virginia Cavalrymen fought in the battles of Cove Mountain (May 10), Lynchburg (June 17–18) and Rutherford's Farm (July 20) before becoming deeper involved in that year's Valley Campaigns, which included the Second Battle of Kernstown (July 24), and the battles of Moorefield (August 7), Opequan (September 19), Fisher's Hill (September 21–22), Cedar Creek (October 19), and Waynesboro (March 2, 1865) under Major-General Philip H. Sheridan.[7]

Assigned next to the war-ending Appomattox Campaign, Anderson and the 1st West Virginia Cavalry fought in the battles of Dinwiddie Court House (March 31), Five Forks (April 1) and Sailor's Creek (April 6) during the early spring of 1865. It was at this juncture that Anderson performed the act of valor which resulted in his being awarded the U.S. Medal of Honor on May 3. While fighting as a corporal with the 1st West Virginia Cavalry in the Battle of Appomattox Station on April 8, he captured the flag of a Confederate States Army regiment. He was then also present with his regiment for the Battle of Appomattox Court House (April 9).[8][9]

Anderson officially mustered out from military life at Clarksburg, West Virginia on July 8, 1865.[10]

Post-war life

Sometime around 1866, following his honorable discharge from the military, Anderson married. He and his wife, Margaret (1843-1933), a fellow Pennsylvania native, then became the parents of: Elizabeth Ann (c. 1867-1872), Abram (b. January 1874), Sarah (b. August 1877), Lucinda (1876-1863), and Ida (1883-1969), all of whom were also natives of Pennsylvania.[11]

By 1900, Anderson and his son, Abram, were farming their family's land in West Bethlehem Township, Washington County, Pennsylvania. Also residing with them were Thomas Anderson's wife, Margaret, and their other children: Sarah, Lucinda, and Ida.[12]

Anderson died at his home in Amwell Township, Washington County, Pennsylvania on September 8, 1912,[13][14] and was buried at the Ten Mile Dunkard Church Cemetery in Lone Pine, Pennsylvania.[15]

Medal of Honor citation

Rank and organization: Corporal, Company I, 1st West Virginia Cavalry. Place and date: At Appomattox Station, Va., April 8, 1865. Entered service at: ------. Birth: Washington County, Pa. Date of issue: May 3, 1865. Citation: Capture of Confederate flag. Citation:[16][17]

The President of the United States of America, in the name of Congress, takes pleasure in presenting the Medal of Honor to Corporal Thomas Anderson, United States Army, for extraordinary heroism on April 8, 1865, while serving with Company I, 1st West Virginia Cavalry, in action at Appomattox Station, Virginia, for the capture of a Confederate flag.[18]

See also

References
  1. "West Virginia Medal of Honor Recipients". Charleston, West Virginia: West Virginia Archives and History, West Virginia Division of Culture and History, retrieved online September 20, 2018.
  2. "Anderson, Thomas", in "Recipients". Mt. Pleasant, South Carolina: Congressional Medal of Honor Society, retrieved online September 20, 2018.
  3. Harte, Vance. Medal of Honor Recipients 1863-1973: In the Name of the Congress of the United States: Prepared for the Committee on Veterans' Affairs, United States Senate, pp. 20, 1005. Washington, D.C.: U.S. Government Printing Office, 1973.
  4. "Thomas Anderson and Margaret Anderson", in U.S. Veterans Administration Pension Payment Cards, 1907-1912. Washington, D.C.: U.S. National Archives and Records Administration.
  5. "Anderson, Thomas", in "Company I", in "Roster of the 1st Regiment West Virginia Cavalry", in "1st Regiment West Virginia Cavalry". Dublin, Ohio: Ohio Civil War Central, retrieved online September 20, 2018.
  6. "Anderson, Thomas", in Company I Roster, 1st Regiment West Virginia Cavalry, Ohio Civil War Central.
  7. "Anderson, Thomas", in "1st Regiment West Virginia Cavalry, Ohio Civil War Central.
  8. Harte, Medal of Honor Recipients 1863-1973: In the Name of the Congress of the United States, pp. 20, 1005.
  9. "Anderson, Thomas", in "1st Regiment West Virginia Cavalry, Ohio Civil War Central.
  10. "Anderson, Thomas", in Company I Roster, 1st Regiment West Virginia Cavalry, Ohio Civil War Central.
  11. "Anderston, Thomas, Margaret, Abram, Sarah, Lucinda, and Ida", in U.S. Census (West Bethlehem Township, Washington County, Pennsylvania, 1900). Washington, D.C.: U.S. National Archives and Records Administration.
  12. "Anderston, Thomas, Margaret, Abram, Sarah, Lucinda, and Ida", in U.S. Census (1900).
  13. "Thomas Anderson" (death notice). Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania: The Pittsburgh Press, September 9, 1912, p. 13.
  14. "Thomas Anderson and Margaret Anderson", in U.S. Veterans Administration Pension Payment Cards, U.S. National Archives.
  15. "Anderson Grave Hotshot" (photograph by Erick Gardland of Anderson's grave with the Dunkard Church in the background). Washington, Pennsylvania: Observer-Reporter, May 29, 2018.
  16. "Anderson, Thomas", in "Medal of Honor Recipients: Civil War (A-F)". Washington, D.C.: U.S. Center of Army Military History, retrieved online September 30, 2018.
  17. The Medal of Honor of the United States Army, pp. 202, 375, 413. Washington, D.C.: United States Government Printing Office, 1948.
  18. "Thomas A Anderson". Medal of Honor recipients. Military Times. Retrieved February 18, 2012.
  • "Battle Flag No. 356" (image of the Confederate battle flag captured by Thomas A. Anderson during the Battle of Appomattox Station on April 8, 1865"), in "The History of the Flags in Lee Chapel and Museum", in "About the Chapel", in "Lee Chapel and Museum". Lexington, Virginia: Washington and Lee University, retrieved online September 30, 2018.
  • "CPL Thomas A. Anderson" (memorial with gravestone photographs). Salt Lake City, Utah: Find A Grave, retrieved online February 18, 2012.
  • Medal of Honor (history). Mt. Pleasant, South Carolina: Congressional Medal of Honor Society, retrieved online September 20, 2018.
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