Welcome to John B. Anderson #223
John B. Anderson, a lifelong resident of Bartholomew County, was born at Hartsville, Indiana on December 29, 1846, the son of Daniel and Margaret Anderson, one of ten children. The family moved to Elizabethtown, Indiana in his early youth.
At the age of fourteen, Anderson enlisted with the 6th Indiana Volunteer Infantry, Company G on September 10, 1861, serving four years with that Company. He saw continuous action with the 6th Indiana from September 10, 1861 until he was captured on September 19, 1863. He participated in several engagements including The Battle of Shiloh, The Siege of Corinth, Murfreesboro, Liberty Gap, and Chickamauga. During the battle of Chickamauga, John was wounded in the face.
While at Chickamauga, he was taken prisoner on September 19, 1863. He served in the following military prisons: Battlefield; Richmond, Virginia; Danville, Virginia; Andersonville, Georgia; Charleston, South Carolina; and Florence, South, Carolina.
Exchanged at Charleston, South Carolina on December 20th, 1864, he arrived home on December 31, 1864, as one had returned from the grave.
John B. Anderson
He saw continuous action with the 6th Indiana from September 10, 1861 until he was captured on September 19, 1863. John B. Anderson was discharged at Indianapolis January 23, 1865 at the rank of private.
John B. Anderson became a charter member James Moffatt G.A.R. Post No. 223 at Elizabethtown where he served as Post Commander at the time of its founding on August 12, 1883. Later he served as Quarter-master and leader in the reunions of Company G. He attended each and every reunion until just before he died on April 10, 1931. John was also a member of the I.O.O.F. Lodge and took much active interest in both organizations.
Shortly after the war, John and Laura E. Wilson married and from this union came nine children. She died in 1895.
John became a school teacher in the county schools for over forty years in Rock Creek and German Townships. He was also Deputy Auditor, and at one time a member of the Indiana State Board of Accounts.
He is buried in Springer Cemetery alongside his wife Laura. The Springer Cemetery is located six miles southeast of Columbus on U.S. 31. In attendance at his funeral were members of the James Moffatt Post of Elizabethtown, the Isham Keith Post No. 13 out of Columbus, and a Spanish-American War Camp.
John had four brothers two of which severed in the Civil War. Capt. Elridge Anderson of Hope, Indiana. A Captain in the 20th Indiana Volunteer Infantry, he was wounded in the leg at the Battle of Gettysburg in 1863. He died on January 1, 1927. William H. Anderson who was in the First Indiana Heavy Artillery, died on October 15, 1921.
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