Andrew T. Goodman was born around 1833 in Pennsylvania to Charles Goodman and Margaret Thatcher. He married Adelaide B. Dewey on April 20, 1858, and they had at least two children: Roland, born around 1860; and Amy, born around 1862. By the early 1860s, he was living in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.
In August 1862, he received a commission as captain of Company C of the 119th Pennsylvania Infantry. The regiment took part in the Battle of Fredericksburg, the Battle of Chancellorsville, the Battle of Gettysburg, the Overland Campaign, the siege of Petersburg, and the Appomattox campaign. In December 1863, he denounced northern newspaper editors who cried for “More blood! More blood!” Winter campaigning, he confessed, left him feeling “Discouraged in heart and completely worn down.”
Nonetheless, he remained fiercely loyal to the Union. He denounced Peace Democrats as “vile traitors” who were “attempt[ing] to secretly sow the seeds of discord in this Army.” On April 21, 1865, he was promoted to major in the 215th Pennsylvania Infantry. He mustered out on July 31, 1865.
He returned to Philadelphia after the war, and he earned a living as a clerk. He applied for a federal pension in March 1874 and eventually received one. By 1900, they were living in Ridley Park, Pennsylvania. He died there on September 20, 1913.