Colonel 1st Florida Infantry, Confederate States of America

Wounded in action during the Atlanta campaign

United States Congressman from Washington Territory

War period autograph endorsement signed

(1822-72) Born near Winchester, in Franklin County, Tennessee. He attended the medical school of Jefferson College, and practiced medicine in Hernando County, Mississippi. He also studied law at Montrose Law School in Frankfort, Kentucky, and was admitted to the bar in 1843, establishing a practice in Hernando, in DeSoto County, Mississippi. He raised and commanded the 1st Battalion "Mississippi Rifles" in the Mexican War as their lieutenant colonel. After serving a term in the Mississippi State House of Representatives, he was appointed United States marshal for Washington Territory by President Franklin Pierce. He was a United States Congressman from Washington Territory, 1855-57. He was appointed governor of the territory by President James Buchanan in 1857, but declined the office. Just prior to the start of the War Between the States, Anderson was appointed a captain of the "Jefferson Rifles," in the Florida Militia, on January 11, 1861. He served as a member of the Florida State Secession convention and was a member of the First Confederate Provisional Congress. Commissioned colonel of the 1st Florida Infantry, his first Civil War action was with General Braxton Bragg at Pensacola, Florida. Promoted to brigadier general on February 10, 1862, he fought gallantly as a brigade and division commander of the Army of Tennessee at the battles of Shiloh, Perryville, Murfreesboro, Chickamauga and Chattanooga, and was promoted to major general, February 17, 1864. He participated in the Atlanta campaign battles of Ezra Church and Jonesboro, being severely wounded at the latter place. He rejoined the army during the North Carolina campaign and surrendered at Greensboro, North Carolina. Following the war, Anderson resided in Memphis, Tennessee, although he faced difficulty working due to his injuries sustained during the war. He sold insurance for a while and eventually became the editor of a small agricultural newspaper. Anderson died in relative poverty at his home in Memphis at the age of 50, due primarily to the lingering effects of his old war wound. He was buried there in the city's Elmwood Cemetery, Memphis, Tennessee.

War Period Autograph Endorsement Signed: 3 x 1 1/2, in ink, "respectively, Patton Anderson, Brig. Genl. Comdg. 2 Div., Hardee's Corps, A.[rmy] T.[ennessee]. Very nice war period item. Extremely desirable.