His father, Samuel Hanson, was a Swedish immigrant and well-known attorney and judge who had moved to Kentucky from Virginia.

When he recovered, Hanson traveled to California, losing his horse on the way and being forced to walk over 200 miles to San Francisco on his injured leg.

The regiment was taken prisoner with the Confederate surrender of Fort Donelson to Union Brigadier General Ulysses S. Grant.

In his first battle as a general, Hanson was mortally wounded on January 2, 1863, during a charge at Murfreesboro (Stones River) when he was struck above the knee by the fuse of a spent artillery shell.

General Breckinridge remarked in his official report, "Endeared to his friends by his private virtues and to his command by the vigilance with which he guarded its interest and honor, he was, by the universal testimony of his military associates, one of the finest officers that adorned the service of the Confederate States.

[5] The General Roger W. Hanson Camp #1844 (Winchester, Kentucky) of the Sons of Confederate Veterans was named in his memory.