General Robert Anderson Gravemarker - Savannah, GA
N 32° 02.623 W 081° 02.695
17S E 495759 N 3545282
This statue marks the grave of Civil War General Robert H. Anderson in the Bonaventure Cemetery in Savannah, Georgia.
Waymark Code: WMGPXP
Location: Georgia, United States
Date Posted: 03/29/2013
Views: 3
Located on top of a multi-tiered base, this life-size bust of General Robert Houston Anderson shows him bearing a long, thick mustache. He appears to be wearing a cloak with a high collar over his Confederate uniform.
Inscription on the front of the base:
GENERAL
ROBERT H. ANDERSON
1835-1888
FEARLESS AND FAITHFUL
ANDERSON
Inscription on the front of the base:
ERECTED
IN MEMORY OF THEIR CHIEF
BY THE
POLICE FORCE
OF
SAVANNAH
AIDED BY CONTRIBUTIONS
FROM MEMBERS OF THE
GEORGIA HUSSARS
SOCIETY
AND OTHER FRIENDS
The following is a short biography of General Anderson:
"Robert Houston Anderson was born in Savannah, Georgia, on October 1, 1835. Graduating from West Point in 1857, he served at a garrison in New York State and at Fort Walla Walla in the Washington Territory as a lieutenant of infantry. Anderson accepted a commission as a lieutenant of artillery in the Confederate army once the secession crisis had begun, being listed as "absent without leave" from the U.S. Army until his resignation was received in 1861. In September of 1861, he was promoted to the rank of major, and took up the administrative position of assistant adjutant general to W. H. T. Walker, major general of Georgia state troops. Before he was transferred to line duty in January 1863, Anderson saw action in coastal Georgia at Fort McAllister. Having been promoted to colonel of the 5th Georgia Cavalry, he was later appointed brigadier general on July 26, 1864. Fighting as a cavalryman in the Army of Tennessee, he served under Major General Joseph Wheeler in the Atlanta Campaign. During one of Wheeler's operations near Franklin, Tennessee, Brig. Gen. John H. Kelly, a division commander, was killed, and Anderson was placed in divisional command temporarily. After the fall of Atlanta, Anderson returned to brigade command and fought through the March to the Sea and the Carolinas Campaign. He was surrendered with the army by Gen. Joseph E. Johnston. After the war, Anderson moved to Savannah and served as the city's chief of police from 1867 to his death on February 8, 1888."
-- Source
The following information is about the cemetery where the statue is located:
"Bonaventure Cemetery is a public cemetery located on a scenic bluff of the Wilmington River, east of Savannah, Georgia. The cemetery became famous when it was featured in the 1994 novel Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil by John Berendt, and in the movie, directed by Clint Eastwood, based on the book. It is the largest of the city's municipal cemeteries, containing nearly 160 acres (0.65 km2)."
-- Source