Poe Archive

INTRODUCTION
Sidney C. Anderson enlisted in Company F of the 12th New York Infantry on 24 April 1861 at Liverpool, NY as a Private and was killed in the battle of Gaines Mill on 27 June 1862. He was 24 years old at his death.

THE LETTER
The Sidney C. Anderson letter was written on 29 May 1862 and describes the Battle of Hanover Court House which took place two days earlier.

HISTORY
The 12th N.Y. was involved in what has become known as the Peninsula Campaign from March to July 1862, in which the Union army, under Major General George McClellan, made its way toward Richmond with the intent of taking that city. The Campaign culminated in a series of engagements known as the Seven Days Battles, which would include the Battle of Gaines Mill, in which Sidney was killed. There was a letter written by Sidney on 17 May 1862 from White House Landing, Virginia. This letter can be seen on the New Kent County, Virginia Website. From the two letters and Sidney’s death at Gaines Mill, just northeast of Richmond, one can get a sense of Sidney’s movements in the last few weeks of his life.

New Kent County Virginia link: http://www.newkent.net/letter.html

FAMILY
Sidney is recorded in the 1850 Federal Census as living in Spafford Township, Onondago County, New York, with his father, Thomas Anderson, 39, mother, Caroline, 33, and two siblings, Mary, 10, and Norman 1. His father’s occupation is listed as merchant. In the 1860 Federal Census, the family is living in Salina Township (Liverpool), New York. The child “Mary” is no longer listed with the family and Thomas’ occupation is now postmaster. Later, after Sidney’s death, the family would move to Pennsylvania.