On June 1, 1862, Major Robert H. Anderson, who graduated from the US Military Academy at West Point in 1857, was serving as inspector general at the headquarters of the Department of South Carolina and Georgia in Charleston, SC.

On June 20, Pemberton wrote to Adjutant and Inspector General Samuel Cooper in Richmond, VA nominating Anderson to be in command of the 1st Georgia Sharpshooter Battalion.

By lining the riverbank with sharpshooters, the defenders rained projectiles on the Union ironclads, forcing them to withdraw, and winning the praise of Confederate generals and congressmen alike.

After being repulsed, Walker's division along with Hardee's Corps marched six miles south of the city, taking up position along the left flank of General McPherson's Union troops between Atlanta and Decatur.

They moved throughout Tennessee and North Carolina, fighting at Bentonville before surrendering to General William T. Sherman on April 25, 1865 16 days after Appomattox.