The University of South Carolina Press recently published the first full biography that examines the life of Confederate Lieutenant General Richard H. Anderson.
Through extensive research, local historian Edward J. Hagerty has crafted a portrait of man who spent much of his life from the age of 16 until the close of the Civil War in the service of his country or his state.
Hagerty said his description of this important, yet often overlooked, leader in the Army of Northern Virginia, aims to bring greater attention to Anderson’s life and career. His unassuming manner and reluctance to promote himself resulted in his contributions to the Confederate cause being largely neglected after the war.
Hagerty, formerly a professor at American Military University and first director of the Civil War Studies Program there, currently teaches online for the USAF Air War College. A retired Air Force Reserve colonel, he taught history as an adjunct professor at Virginia Military Institute around 2011.
His work on Anderson began over two decades ago, but it was frequently interrupted after the events of 9/11 when he was recalled to active duty for extended periods of time.
“I’m pleased to finally see this book in print,” he said. “Anderson led a corps in the Army of Northern Virginia from the spring of 1864 to the end of the war, and he deserves to be more than just a footnote. He never jumped on the ‘Lost Cause’ bandwagon and he fell into relative obscurity as a result, but I truly hope this work brings him the recognition he deserves as an American soldier who did his duty as he saw it.”
The book, entitled “Soldier of the South: Lieutenant General Richard H. Anderson at War and Peace,” is available on Amazon.
The News Gazette did an article in 1998 on Hagerty after the publication of his first book from LSU Press, “Collis’ Zouaves: The 114th Pennsylvania Volunteers in the Civil War.”
His second book was “The Air Force Office of Special Investigations, 1948-2001,” published in 2008 by the AFOSI History Office. He was a special agent with AFOSI for over 30 years.
Hagerty is currently researching a previously unused collection of letters at Washington and Lee University from the Civil War-era McFarland family of Augusta County. “I hope to edit the family letters and diaries and publish those for my next book,” he said.
