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Robert Anderson, remarkable letter regarding "the firing upon my little band at Fort Sumter opened a war"
Robert Anderson, remarkable letter regarding "the firing upon my little band at Fort Sumter opened a war"
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Anderson Robert

Robert Anderson, remarkable letter regarding “… the firing upon my little band at Fort Sumter opened a war …”

 

“I fear that, in consequence of our having so few disciplined troops, and so many officers who have had no experience, our losses will be very great. I feel that this matter has been forced upon us. the firing upon my little band at Fort Sumter opened a war, from which our Govt could not withdraw.”

 

“That this civil strife will be attended with incidents, which will sadden and sicken the firmest hearts, none who know the decided and sternly bitter determination of our Southern enemies can doubt.”

 

4pp autograph letter signed by Robert Anderson to John McVickar, July 22, 1861, Cresson Springs, Pennsylvania, with additional note by Eliza Bayard Anderson. 4.875" x 7.375". Accompanied by General Orders No. 50, dated March 27, 1865, Re-Raising of the American Flag at Fort Sumter by Brevet Major General ANDERSON. Also includes a color photocopy of patriotic envelope addressed to “Rev. Dr. John McVickar.”

 

Complete Transcript

                                                                        Cresson Springs, Pa.

                                                                        July 22, 1861

Rev. John McVickar

Chaplain, U.S.A.

N.York

My Dear Dr.

            Having a leisure moment today, I thought that I would write you a few lines. I have the pleasure to report that my wife and children arrived safely, and that the little folk are all doing very well. I am sorry that I cannot make as favorable a report of my precious wife, as she has not, yet, felt well enough to go down to the parlour. She is suffering, today, from a cold contracted during a cold wet spell we had here last week. This is a nice place for the children. the house is built on the side of a hill which is covered with a grand old forest, through which there are fine roads and walks. The air is cool and bracing, and the water clear, and cold enough to be very acceptable without ice. The latter Article, though, we have in profusion. About ¾ mile from the Hotel, which is well kept, having nice rooms, with good new bedding, is a spring strongly impregnated with iron. A word, before closing about my own health. It has, thank God, greatly improved since my arrival here.

            Mrs. Anderson desires me to thank you, as I do, also, for your having, so often thought of her and for having paid her so many visits during the last winter and spring. she hopes that she may, yet, have the pleasure of paying you a visit at your summer home, a visit you have so frequently urged, and which she has long desired to make.

            The telegram, this morning, reports a great battle at and in the vicinity of Manassas Junction. I am very anxious to hear the result. I fear that, in consequence of our having so few disciplined troops, and so many officers who have had no experience, our losses will be very great. I feel that this matter has been forced upon us. the firing upon my little band at Fort Sumter opened a war, from which our Govt could not withdraw. only one course is now left for us, to meet all the responsibilities as becomes Christians and Soldiers. That this civil strife will be attended with incidents, which will sadden and sicken the firmest hearts, none who know the decided and sternly bitter determination of our Southern enemies can doubt. I feel and acknowledge, too, that as a people we have far forgotten our God, & that we have justly incurred his wrath. Let us pray that He will be, as he has ever shown himself, merciful to us, and that He will soon bring Hope, and Peace, and Love to our land again. Mrs A. joins me in sincerest and warmest regards.

                                                                        Ever yours truly

                                                                        Robert Anderson

 

[Postscript by Eliza Bayard Anderson, written vertically in margins of front page:]

My very dear friend,

            I cannot tell you how very sorry I was not to be able to see you before I left the City. Never mind! I hope to see you in the fall and who knows but that next summer or some other summer I may pay you the visit in the country which I have so long been anticipating!!  Meanwhile you must not forget or cease to love me, and always believe me

                                                                        Yours affectionately

                                                                        E. B. Anderson



Recently promoted to Brigadier General, Robert Anderson writes to his and his wife’s close friend Rev. John McVickar while recuperating in western Pennsylvania, some 75 miles east of Pittsburgh. After surrendering Fort Sumter, Anderson toured the North speaking and raising recruits. On May 28, 1861, he was placed in command of the Department of Kentucky, though his native state had officially declared neutrality. Old wounds and disease convinced Anderson to seek some relief at Cresson Springs, where his wife and their four children joined him.

He expresses concern about the casualties at the First Battle of Bull Run, fought the day before, due to undisciplined troops and inexperienced officers. Union casualties in that battle totaled more than 2,700 men, and the Confederates lost nearly 2,000. While shocking by antebellum standards, these numbers would be overshadowed by much higher casualties in more than thirty other battles over the next four years.

Robert Anderson (1805-1871) was born in Kentucky and graduated from the United States Military Academy in 1825. He served in the Black Hawk War, the Second Seminole War, and the Mexican War. After coastal duty in Maine and light duty of inspection in New Jersey, he was placed in charge of U.S. Army forces in Charleston, South Carolina. His decision to remove his small garrison from Fort Moultrie to Fort Sumter, still under construction in the middle of Charleston harbor, angered Confederates but delighted northerners. The Confederate decision to bombard Fort Sumter on April 12, 1861, began the Civil War. After Anderson surrendered the fort on April 14, he went on a recruiting tour of the North and then took command of the Department of Kentucky, which he held until October 1861. He briefly commanded a fort in Rhode Island before retiring from the Army in October 1863. Early on April 14, 1865, Major General Robert Anderson raised the same flag over Fort Sumter that he had lowered four years earlier. Later that night, John Wilkes Booth assassinated President Abraham Lincoln.

John McVickar (1787-1868) was born in New York City and graduated from Columbia College in 1804. A Federalist, McVickar was a disciple of Alexander Hamilton. In 1811, he became a minister in the Protestant Episcopal Church and became rector of St. James Church in Hyde Park, New York. In 1817, he received an appointment as professor of moral philosophy, rhetoric, and belles lettres at Columbia College. In 1826, “political economy” was added to his title. He continued to teach at Columbia until his retirement in 1864.  From 1844 to 1862, he served as chaplain to the U.S. forces at Fort Columbus on Governor’s Island.

Eliza Bayard Clinch Anderson (1828-1905) was born at her father’s plantation in Camden County, on the coast of Georgia. Her father was Brigadier General and Congressman Duncan L. Clinch (1787-1849). She married Robert Anderson in 1845, and they had five children. Two of her brothers were Confederate officers during the Civil War. In February 1879, Congress passed an act granting her a pension of $50 per month as the widow of General Anderson. She was buried with her husband at the United States Military Academy at West Point.

Similar letters of this period have fetched astronomical sums at auction. A shorter letter leading up to the attack on Fort Sumter sold at Christie's in 2002 for over $33,000. Similarly, a letter two months before the attack sold at Swann for over $18,000 in 1995.

Condition: Very good.

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