He attended the medical school of Jefferson College in Canonsburg, Pennsylvania in 1840, before a family financial crisis forced him to withdraw a short time before graduation in 1842.

[4] J. Patton Anderson lived, likely as a boarder, in the household of Nathan Bedford Forrest in De Soto County, Mississippi at the time of the 1850 U.S. census.

Just prior to the start of the American Civil War, Anderson was appointed a captain of the Jefferson Rifles[8][a] in the Florida Militia on January 11, 1861.

[4] He was promoted to the rank of Brigadier general on February 10, 1862, and was assigned to the Western Theater, commanding a brigade in the Battle of Shiloh in April.

He fought with the Army of Tennessee during the battles of Perryville, Stones River, Chickamauga, and Chattanooga, before being promoted to Major general on February 17, 1864.

[4] After briefly serving as commander of the Confederate District of Florida, Anderson returned to the field in July 1864 during the Atlanta Campaign.

Anderson died in relative poverty at his home in Memphis at the age of 50, due primarily to lingering effects of his old war wound.