Private/Sgt Kit Anderson
Private Christopher "Kit" Cowen Anderson
Macon Light Artillery
AKA Phillips Legion Artillery
At first glance, one would wonder why a soldier from the Macon Light Artillery is included with those of the Phillips Legion. There is a reason and an interesting story behind this seeming anomaly. During the spring of 1862 when the Phillips Legion's infantry and cavalry battalions had returned south to Hardeeville, SC to recover from the rigors of their winter campaign in the mountains of western Virginia, Colonel William Phillips went to work with Governor Brown in an effort to expand his Legion. After considerable wrangling with the Confederate government at Richmond, Phillips was permitted to recruit three additional infantry and two additional cavalry companies. Research indicates that he was also attempting to add an artillery battery and this unit was the newly organized Macon Light Artillery. Correspondence found in the compiled service record of battery commander, Captain Henry Ells, clearly indicates that his six gun battery, which was organized and in training at Macon, Ga., was assigned to Phillips Legion in May of 1862. The battery did not join the Legion at Hardeeville and continued to train at Macon until the Legion was moved north to Richmond in late July 1862. The battery soon followed but did not accompany the Legion infantry north in the campaign of Second Manassas and on into Maryland. It is not clear precisely when the organizational bond between the battery and the Legion was eliminated but this certainly was done by the beginning of 1863 when the battery was sent to serve in North Carolina. Another peice of evidence that points to the official link between the Legion and the Macon Light Artillery is the fact that many of the battery's members filed for veteran's pensions listing their unit as the Phillips Legion Artillery.Christopher "Kit" Anderson was a 17 year old senior at Mercer University at Penfield, Ga when the war broke out. He enlisted for one year in the 6th Ga Regiment of Alfred Colquitt's brigade on May 1st 1861. Serving out his enlistment, he reenlisted in the Macon Light Artillery and fought with the battery for the rest of the war, rising to the rank of First Sgt. Following the surrender, Kit spent a month walking back to his home in Cedartown, Ga., married, raised a large family and lived on until his death in 1925.
Photo courtesy of Mrs Robert Earl White of San Antonio, Texas.
Written by:Kurt Graham
