Anderson Troop

Last updated
Anderson Troop
ActiveNovember 30, 1861 to March 24, 1863
Country United States
Allegiance Union
Branch Cavalry
Engagements Battle of Shiloh
Siege of Corinth
Battle of Perryville
Battle of Stones River

Anderson Troop was an independent cavalry company that served in the Union Army during the American Civil War. It had an authorized strength of 110 officers and men, and served for 18 months at the headquarters of Generals Don Carlos Buell and William S. Rosecrans, commanders of the Department and Army of the Ohio and Cumberland. The unit was frequently referred to as "Anderson Troop, Pennsylvania Cavalry", and while occasionally identified as the 15th Pennsylvania Cavalry because its officers raised and organized that regiment, it was never a part.

Cavalry soldiers or warriors fighting from horseback

Cavalry or horsemen are soldiers or warriors who fight mounted on horseback. Cavalry were historically the most mobile of the combat arms. An individual soldier in the cavalry is known by a number of designations such as cavalryman, horseman, dragoon, or trooper. The designation of cavalry was not usually given to any military forces that used other animals, such as camels, mules or elephants. Infantry who moved on horseback, but dismounted to fight on foot, were known in the 17th and early 18th centuries as dragoons, a class of mounted infantry which later evolved into cavalry proper while retaining their historic title.

Union Army Land force that fought for the Union during the American Civil War

During the American Civil War, the Union Army referred to the United States Army, the land force that fought to preserve the Union of the collective states. Also known as the Federal Army, it proved essential to the preservation of the United States as a working, viable republic.

American Civil War Civil war in the United States from 1861 to 1865

The American Civil War was a civil war fought in the United States from 1861 to 1865, between the North (Union) and the South (Confederacy). The most studied and written about episode in U.S. history, the Civil War began primarily as a result of the long-standing controversy over the enslavement of black people. War broke out in April 1861 when secessionist forces attacked Fort Sumter in South Carolina shortly after Abraham Lincoln had been inaugurated as the President of the United States. The loyalists of the Union in the North, which also included some geographically western and southern states, proclaimed support for the Constitution. They faced secessionists of the Confederate States in the South, who advocated for states' rights to uphold slavery.

Contents

Service

The Anderson Troop was organized at Carlisle, Pennsylvania in October-November 1861 and mustered in on November 30, 1861 under the command of Captain William Jackson Palmer of Philadelphia, its organizer. The company was raised for headquarters and escort duty with Gen. Robert Anderson in Kentucky but instead became a unit of "elite scouts." Palmer, a Quaker, recruited a number of men of his faith to serve in the company, and all members were hand-picked after nomination by upstanding citizens of Pennsylvania. Among the requirements for enrollment was an oath to abstain from consumption of liquor for the duration.

Carlisle, Pennsylvania Borough in Pennsylvania, United States

Carlisle is a borough in and the county seat of Cumberland County, Pennsylvania, United States. Carlisle is located within the Cumberland Valley, a highly productive agricultural region. As of the 2010 census, the borough population was 18,682; the estimated population as of 2014 was 18,916. Including suburbs in the neighboring townships, 37,695 live in the Carlisle urban cluster.

In the United States uniformed services, captain is a commissioned-officer rank. In keeping with the traditions of the militaries of most nations, the rank varies between the services, being a senior rank in the naval services and a junior rank in the ground and air forces.

Philadelphia Largest city in Pennsylvania

Philadelphia, known colloquially as Philly, is the largest city in the U.S. state and Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, and the sixth-most populous U.S. city, with a 2018 census-estimated population of 1,584,138. Since 1854, the city has been coterminous with Philadelphia County, the most populous county in Pennsylvania and the urban core of the eighth-largest U.S. metropolitan statistical area, with over 6 million residents as of 2017. Philadelphia is also the economic and cultural anchor of the greater Delaware Valley, located along the lower Delaware and Schuylkill Rivers, within the Northeast megalopolis. The Delaware Valley's population of 7.2 million ranks it as the eighth-largest combined statistical area in the United States.

In July 1862 Captain Palmer, 1st Lt. William Spencer, and 12 men were detailed to raise three additional companies of similar recruits to form a battalion to be known as the 1st Anderson Cavalry, with the Anderson Troop as its Company A. The recruiters, however, received sufficient applications to raise an entire regiment, which was authorized and became the 15th Pennsylvania Volunteer Cavalry. Palmer left the troop to become colonel of the 15th and Spencer the lieutenant colonel.

Although known as the "Anderson Cavalry," the regiment nonetheless did not incorporate the company into its ranks when it elected to remain independent under the command of its second lieutenant, Thomas Maple. 11 of its 17 officers and non-commissioned officers, with 21 of 90 privates, had joined the 15th, the majority of them commissioned as officers. With the 15th Pennsylvania Cavalry designated to become his headquarters cavalry, General William Rosecrans felt that the two units could not serve side-by-side without friction and offered the remaining 53 men of the Anderson Troop the opportunity to muster out of service, which was done on March 24, 1863. Maple continued in service as a major and assistant army quartermaster.

William Rosecrans Diplomat, politician, and U.S. Army officer

William Starke Rosecrans was an American inventor, coal-oil company executive, diplomat, politician, and U.S. Army officer. He gained fame for his role as a Union general during the American Civil War. He was the victor at prominent Western Theater battles, but his military career was effectively ended following his disastrous defeat at the Battle of Chickamauga in 1863.

Detailed service

Moved to Louisville, Ky., December 2–7, 1861. Duty there until February 1862. Moved with headquarters Army of the Ohio to Nashville, Tenn., February 24. March to Savannah, Tenn., to reinforce the Army of the Tennessee March-April. Battle of Shiloh April 7. Advance on and siege of Corinth, Miss., April 29-May 30. Pursuit to Booneville May 31-June 12. Buell's Campaign in northern Alabama and middle Tennessee June to August. March to Louisville, Ky., in pursuit of Bragg August 21-September 26. Pursuit of Bragg into Kentucky October 1–22. Springfield October 6. Battle of Perryville October 8. March to Nashville, Tenn., October 22-November 7, and duty there until December 26. Advance on Murfreesboro December 26–30. Lavergne December 26–27. Wilkinson's Cross Roads December 29. Battle of Stones River December 30–31, 1862 and January 1–3, 1863. Overall's Creek December 31, 1862. Lavergne January 1, 1863. Lytle's Creek January 5. At Murfreesboro until March 24, 1863.

Army of the Tennessee Unit of the Union Army during the American Civil War

The Army of the Tennessee was a Union army in the Western Theater of the American Civil War, named for the Tennessee River.

Casualties

The company lost a total of 6 men during service; 1 officer killed, 5 enlisted men died of disease.

Commanders

William Jackson Palmer United States Army Medal of Honor recipient, Denver and Rio Grande Railroad president

William Jackson Palmer was an American civil engineer, soldier, industrialist, and philanthropist. During the American Civil War, he was promoted to Brevet Brigadier General and was a Medal of Honor recipient.

Colonel (United States) Military rank of the United States

In the United States Army, Marine Corps, and Air Force, colonel is the most senior field grade military officer rank, immediately above the rank of lieutenant colonel and immediately below the rank of brigadier general. It is equivalent to the naval rank of captain in the other uniformed services. The pay grade for colonel is O-6.

Lieutenant colonel (United States) officer rank of the United States military

In the United States Army, U.S. Marine Corps, and U.S. Air Force, a lieutenant colonel is a field-grade military officer rank just above the rank of major and just below the rank of colonel. It is equivalent to the naval rank of commander in the other uniformed services.

See also

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References

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