On November 18, 1861, at the age of 20, Thomas A. Anderson enrolled for military service at Wheeling, West Virginia. He then officially mustered in for duty with Company I of the 1st West Virginia Cavalry. Assigned to guard lines of the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad in what is now West Virginia during the opening months of 1862, Anderson and his fellow 1st Virginia Cavalrymen were directed to combat assignments beginning that spring. After fighting at Winchester, Virginia, they engaged the enemy in operations at Monterey, Buffalo Gap, McDowell, Strasburg, Cross Keys, Port Republic, and White Plains. Marched east of the Appalachian Mountains, they then re-engaged with the enemy in Culpeper, Fauquier and Fairfax counties, including battles at Cedar Mountain and Orange Court House. Next engaged in Union General John Pope's Northern Virginia Campaign, they participated in operations along the Rapidan River, Freeman's Ford/Hazel River, Kelly's Ford, Sulphur Springs, Waterloo Bridge, and Gainesville, as well as in the Second Battle of Bull Run. Also engaged in operations at Lewis Ford, they then fought in the Battle of Chantilly. The year of 1863 proved to be an intense one for Anderson and his fellow 1st West Virginia Cavalrymen. Ordered to march for Pennsylvania during the early summer, they participated in the Union Army's tide-turning Gettysburg Campaign, including the battles of Hanover and Gettysburg, and then helped to drive Confederate troops from Pennsylvania into Maryland and Virginia, engaging in the battles of Williamsport, Boonsboro, and Mine Run. Two days before Christmas that year, Anderson then re-enlisted with the 1st West Virginia Cavalry at New Creek, West Virginia, earning the designation of "Veteran Volunteer". After emerging from winter quarters in 1864, Anderson and his fellow 1st West Virginia Cavalrymen fought in the battles of Cove Mountain, Lynchburg and Rutherford's Farm before becoming deeper involved in that year's Valley Campaigns, which included the Second Battle of Kernstown, and the battles of Moorefield, Opequan, Fisher's Hill, Cedar Creek, and Waynesboro under Major-General Philip H. Sheridan. Assigned next to the war-ending Appomattox Campaign, Anderson and the 1st West Virginia Cavalry fought in the battles of Dinwiddie Court House, Five Forks and Sailor's Creek during the early spring of 1865. It was at this juncture that Anderson performed the act of valor which resulted in his being awarded the U.S. Medal of Honor on May 3. While fighting as a corporal with the 1st West Virginia Cavalry in the Battle of Appomattox Station on April 8, he captured the flag of a Confederate States Army regiment. He was then also present with his regiment for the Battle of Appomattox Court House. Anderson officially mustered out from military life at Clarksburg, West Virginia on July 8, 1865.
Post-war life
Sometime around 1866, following his honorable discharge from the military, Anderson married. He and his wife, Margaret, a fellow Pennsylvania native, then became the parents of: Elizabeth Ann, Abram, Sarah, Lucinda, and Ida, all of whom were also natives of Pennsylvania. By 1900, Anderson and his son, Abram, were farming their family's land in West Bethlehem Township, Washington County, Pennsylvania. Also residing with them were Thomas Anderson's wife, Margaret, and their other children: Sarah, Lucinda, and Ida. Anderson died at his home in Amwell Township, Washington County, Pennsylvania on September 8, 1912, and was buried at the Ten Mile Dunkard Church Cemetery in Lone Pine, Pennsylvania.
Medal of Honor citation
Rank and organization: Corporal, Company I, 1st West Virginia Cavalry. Place and date: At Appomattox Station, Va., April 8, 1865. Entered service at: ------. Birth: Washington County, Pa. Date of issue: May 3, 1865. Citation: Capture of Confederate flag. Citation:
The President of the United States of America, in the name of Congress, takes pleasure in presenting the Medal of Honor to Corporal Thomas Anderson, United States Army, for extraordinary heroism on April 8, 1865, while serving with Company I, 1st West Virginia Cavalry, in action at Appomattox Station, Virginia, for the capture of a Confederate flag.
