At the breaking out of the revolutionary war Richard Anderson entered the service as captain of the 5th Virginia continentals, and throughout the war he served bravely and efficiently, especially at the battles of Brandywine and Germantown. At Trenton, December 24, 1776, he crossed the Delaware river in advance of the main army, forming the advance outpost of the continental troops, and forced back the Hessians. He then served in the south, entering Charleston, SouthCarolina, with Pulaski's army in 1779, and aided in the defence of that City. He was also at Savannah, Georgia, in October of the same year, and was on board the Wasp when Pulaski was taken north to be treated for the wound he received. He attended the gallant Pole in his last hours and received from him his sword as an evidence of friendship.

At the end of the war he received the rank of lieutenant-colonel, and removed to Kentucky, then a wilderness infested by hostile Indians. Here he distinguished himself by his bravery and resolution in fighting the savages. In 1788 he was a member of the state convention, and in 1793 a presidential elector. The first cargo of produce ever shipped directly from Kentucky to Europe was sent in a vessel constructed by him and despatched by way of the Mississippi river and New Orleans in 1797. Their home near Louisville was known as "Soldiers' Retreat."