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[Fort Sumter]. Printed invitation, to Charles Anderson, Washington, D.C., March 30th, 1865, signed by Edward D. Townsend, as Asst. Adjutant General. 1 p. With a printed program for the event, 4 p; and a scrap book page with 2 newspaper clippings about Robert Anderson. Complete Transcript
War Department / Washington, D.C. March 30, 1865 The Secretary of War invites Hon. Chas. Anderson to witness the ceremony of the raising the United States Flag on Fort Sumter by Major-General Anderson, on the 14th of April next, pursuant to the order of the President.
By order of the Secretary of War/ E.D. Townsend / Asst. Adj. Gen.
Inventory# 20622 $3,500
Historical Background
On February 17, 1865, after repeated Union bombardments, the Confederates evacuated Sumter, now little more than rubble. Recognizing the symbolic importance of recapturing the key fort in Charleston harbor, a ceremony was planned in which Major General Robert Anderson would raise the same tattered garrison flag he was forced to strike in 1861. The special event was open to northern dignitaries by invitation only. On April 14, exactly four years after the Confederates fired upon the fort, thus opening the Civil War, the 60-year old Anderson re-raised the flag along with a garland of roses. The recipient of this letter, Charles Anderson (1814-1895), was first a Whig and later a Republican politician from Ohio. He served briefly as the 27th Governor of Ohio. Anderson was born in Louisville, Kentucky, to a prominent family; his father was an aide to the Marquis de Lafayette during the American Revolution. Anderson graduated from Miami University in 1833, studied law and was admitted to the Ohio bar. He moved to Dayton, Ohio, where he began a law practice and was later elected county prosecutor. In 1844, he was elected to the Ohio Senate and made a name for himself as an advocate for black rights. He then moved to Texas for health reasons. He gave a speech in San Antonio in December 1860, opposing secession and calling for the "perpetuity of the national Union." Angry local pro-Confederates threatened Anderson and then arrested him without charge, but Anderson escaped and returned with his family to Dayton. President Abraham Lincoln sent Anderson on a pro-Union speaking tour of Europe, after which Anderson accepted command of the 93rd Ohio Volunteer infantry regiment. Badly wounded at the Battle of Murfreesboro or Stones River, Anderson resigned his commission and returned to Ohio. He was elected Lieutenant Governor of Ohio in 1863 and took office in 1864. He became Governor on August 29, 1865 upon the death of Governor John Brough. Anderson served less than five months, until January 8, 1866. Ohio historian Dwight L. Smith wrote that his brief term in office as "uneventful... [and] the services he performed were merely routine." After leaving the governorship, Anderson resumed his legal practice and moved to Kentucky, where he died in 1895.
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