Robert Meriwether Anderson

He had been a member of the pre-war Howitzers since November 1859. Age 38, by occupation a clerk, he enlisted for war service in Richmond on 21 April 1861 and mustered as a Private in the First Company, Richmond Howitzers Light Artillery. He was promoted to First Sergeant on 11 May and was elected Junior First Lieutenant on 17 November.

He commanded the lone two gun section of the battery in action at Sharpsburg on 17 September 1862.

He was promoted to Captain of the battery on 4 June 1864. He was on leave in December 1864 and January 1865, on court martial duty in March, and briefly in a Richmond, VA hospital 1-2 April. He was captured or surrendered, date not found, and paroled at Richmond on 15 May 1865.

By 1870 and to his death in 1880 he was a farmer at "Lewis Level", the Lewis family's ancestral home near Miller's Tavern in Essex County, VA. He died from smoke inhalation after attempting to save furnishings when his home burned.

His service and his Compiled Service Records,1 online from fold3, and his Confederate Officers Card. His role at Sharpsburg from Carman.2 Personal details from family genealogists and the US Census of 1870 & 1880; one genealogy has his birth in 1826 (conflicts with marriage and census records). Thanks to Jim Rosebrock for the pointer to Anderson.

He married his (cousin?) Henrietta Shore Lewis (1838/9-1892) on Christmas Eve 1864 and they had at least 4 children.

The famous explorer Meriwether Lewis (1774-1809) was Robert's great-uncle (brother to his father's mother).

10/19/1822; Montgomery County, TN

11/09/1880; Essex County, VA