Lt. Colonel William C. Walker
August 4, 1820--January 3, 1864
Interred: Walker Family Cemetery (Panther Top Rd.), Cherokee County, N.C.
Photograph is Courtesy of Carolyn Ellertson
| Confederate Colonel |
|
| William C. Walker |
| William C. Walker |
|
Lieutenant
Colonel William Clay Walker
While at his home in Cherokee County during sick leave on January 3, 1864, Lt. Colonel William C. Walker was awakened
and murdered by outlaws. The murder of the unit's battalion commander vividly reflected Western North Carolina's anarchy during the Civil War (unharmed, Mrs. Walker died on November 4, 1898). Furthermore, Walker's murder is
stated to have greatly altered Colonel Thomas's view of the war and underscored his initial position and pleas to protect North Carolina's western counties.
Thomas retained the Cherokee Life Guard, in part, because of Walker's death. During the winter of 1863-64, Thomas and the Cherokee Battalion
operated against raiders and bushwhackers in the North Carolina mountains, while the Legion fought bushwhackers in East Tennessee (Official Records of the Union and Confederate
Armies, Series 1, Volume 32, part II, p. 611). Also see
hellish conditions in Western North Carolina: Shelton
Laurel Massacre, O.R., IV, pt. 2, pp. 732-734, O.R., 1, 53, pp. 324-336, O.R., 1, 32,
pt. II, pp. 610-611.
William C. Walker, commanding, July 18, 1862--September 11, 1863*
Officially organized on July, 18, 1862, when Stringfield mustered its first company in Cherokee
County, North Carolina. During July and August, the Battalion comprised the companies of Berry, Walker, Parker, and Cooper. Six companies were added in September but Parker and Cooper were transferred to the Regiment,
Thomas' Legion. On October 1, the Battalion, 600 officers and men, was mustered at Knoxville, and William C. Walker was selected
as Lieutenant Colonel. By the end of October 1862 the ranks increased to a total of 740 men. James A. McKamy was promoted
to Major in August 1863 and assumed command of the Battalion, which was reduced to 500 men in September 1863. After Walker's
death in January 1864, McKamy was promoted to Lt. Colonel. After McKamy's capture
at the Battle of Third Winchester (Virginia) on September 19, 1864, during General
Early's Valley Campaigns, Lieutenant James A. Robinson led
a portion of the Battalion during the remainder of the Valley Campaigns and until it returned to North Carolina in
December 1864. In February 1865, General James Green Martin officially placed Stringfield in command of the Battalion. Captain Stephen Whitaker was in command at war's
end. The Battalion was known as Walker's Battalion, McKamy's Battalion and, at times, Battalion. When
Thomas officially organized the Indian Battalion at the end of the war, Walker's Battalion became known as First Battalion,
with the Cherokee Battalion also referred to as Second Battalion.
When the unit mustered at Knoxville it had 7 companies, including 3 of Tennessee cavalry.
The mounted or cavalry units were all transferred from the Battalion in December 1862, so that during most of the Battalion's
service it only had 5 infantry companies.
* Lt. Colonel William C. Walker commanded Walker's Battalion, Thomas' Legion of Cherokee Indians and Highlanders. Walker's Battalion was unofficially designated the 80th and also
never received official recognition above battalion status. Many, however, believed that the battalion qualified
with regimental strength and therefore called it a "regiment." Perhaps Walker's Battalion should have been officially recognized
as Walker's Regiment and designated the 80th North Carolina Infantry Regiment.
In 1861,
a typical regiment mustered approximately 1,100 soldiers. In late 1863 and by early 1864, due to combat fatalities (killed-in-action),
diseases, wounds, missing-in-action, desertions, enlistment expiration, and soldiers captured by the enemy, many
regiments were reduced by as much as 70%.
In late 1864,
Walker's Battalion met or qualified by reason of its numerical strength.
Lt. Colonel William C. Walker had prior service in the 29th North Carolina Infantry Regiment.
** Lt. Colonel McKamy commanded the battalion after the death of Lt.
Colonel Walker. However, when McKamy was captured at 3rd Winchester, Lt James A. Robinson assumed command of the Battalion. Robinson commanded the Battalion for the remainder of the
Shenandoah Valley Campaigns (September 19, 1864--until its return to North Carolina with Special Order
267). Then, Lt. Colonel William Stringfield commanded the Battalion, with Captain
Whitaker commanding it at war's end.
Highly
Recommended Reading:
Storm in the Mountains: Thomas' Confederate
Legion of Cherokee Indians and Mountaineers (Thomas'
Legion: The Sixty-ninth North Carolina Regiment). Description: Vernon H. Crow, Storm in the Mountains, spent 10 years conducting extensive Thomas Legion's research. Crow was granted
access to rare manuscripts, special collections, and privately held diaries which add great depth to this rarely discussed
Civil War legion. He explores and discusses the unit's formation, fighting history, and life of the legion's commander--Cherokee
chief and Confederate colonel--William Holland Thomas. Continued below...
Numerous maps and photographs allow the reader to better understand and
relate to the subjects discussed. It also contains rosters which is an added bonus for researchers and genealogists. Crow,
furthermore, left no stone unturned while examining the many facets of the Thomas Legion and his research is conveyed on a
level that scores with Civil War students and scholars alike.
NEW! North Carolina
Troops, 1861-1865: A Roster (Volume XVI: Thomas's Legion) (Hardcover, 537 pages), North Carolina Office of Archives and
History (June 26, 2008). Description: The volume begins with an authoritative
246-page history of Thomas's Legion. The history, including Civil War battles and campaigns, is followed by a complete
roster and service records of the field officers, staff, and troops that served in the legion. A thorough index completes
the volume. Continued...
Volume XVI
of North Carolina Troops: A Roster contains the history and roster of the most unusual North Carolina Confederate Civil
War unit, significant because of the large number of Cherokee Indians who served in its ranks. Thomas's Legion was the creation
of William Holland Thomas, an influential businessman, state legislator, and Cherokee chief. He initially raised a small
battalion of Cherokees in April 1862, and gradually expanded his command with companies of white soldiers raised in western
North Carolina,
eastern Tennessee, and Virginia.
By the end of 1862, Thomas's Legion comprised an infantry regiment and a battalion of infantry and cavalry. An artillery battery
was added in April 1863. Furthermore, in General Early's Army of the Valley, the Thomas Legion was well-known for its fighting
prowess. It is also known for its pivotal role in the last Civil War battle east of the Mississippi
River. The Thomas Legion mustered more than 2,500 soldiers and it closely resembled a brigade. With troop roster, muster records, and Compiled Military Service Records (CMSR) this volume
is also a must have for anyone interested in genealogy and researching Civil War ancestors. Simply stated, it is an outstanding
source for genealogists.
Recommended
Reading:
Bushwhackers, The Civil War in North Carolina:
The Mountains (338 pages). Description: Trotter's book (which could have been titled "Murder, Mayhem, and Mountain Madness") is
an epic backdrop for the most horrific murdering, plundering and pillaging of the mountain communities of western North Carolina
during the state’s darkest hour—the American Civil War. Commonly referred to as Southern Appalachia, the North Carolina and East Tennessee mountains witnessed divided loyalties
in its bushwhackers and guerrilla units. These so-called “bushwhackers” even used the conflict to settle old feuds
and scores, which, in some cases, continued well after the war ended. Continued below...
Some bushwhackers
were highly organized ‘fighting guerrilla units’ while others were a motley group of deserters and outliers,
and, since most of them were residents of the region, they were familiar with the terrain and made for a “very formidable
foe.” In this work, Trotter does a great job on covering the many facets of the bushwhackers, including their: battles,
skirmishes, raids, activities, motives, the outcome, and even the aftermath. This book is also a great source for tracing
ancestors during the Civil War; a must have for the family researcher of Southern Appalachia.
Walker Genealogy:
Recommended Reading:
Recommended
Reading:
Hardtack & Coffee or The Unwritten Story of Army Life. Description: Most histories of the Civil War focus on battles and top brass. Hardtack and Coffee
is one of the few to give a vivid, detailed picture of what ordinary soldiers endured every day—in camp, on the march,
at the edge of a booming, smoking hell. John D. Billings of Massachusetts enlisted in the
Army of the Potomac and survived the hellish conditions as a “common foot soldier”
of the American Civil War. "Billings describes
an insightful account of the conflict – the experiences of every day life as a common foot-soldier – and a view
of the war that is sure to score with every buff." Continued below...
The
authenticity of his book is heightened by the many drawings that a comrade, Charles W. Reed, made while in the field. This
is the story of how the Civil War soldier was recruited, provisioned, and disciplined. Described here are the types of men
found in any outfit; their not very uniform uniforms; crowded tents and makeshift shelters; difficulties in keeping clean,
warm, and dry; their pleasure in a cup of coffee; food rations, dominated by salt pork and the versatile cracker or hardtack;
their brave pastimes in the face of death; punishments for various offenses; treatment in sick bay; firearms and signals and
modes of transportation. Comprehensive and anecdotal, Hardtack and Coffee is striking for the pulse of life that runs through
it.
Sources:
National Archives and Records Administration; Walker's Service Record; Stringfield's Service Record; McKamy's
Service Record; Parker's Service Record; Robinson's Service Record; W. H. Thomas's Service Record; Moore's
Roster; Hunter Library, Western Carolina University; Official Records of the Union and Confederate Armies; Vernon H. Crow, Storm in the Mountains: Thomas'
Confederate Legion of Cherokee Indians and Mountaineers; Walter Clark, Histories of the Several Regiments and Battalions from
North Carolina in the Great War 1861-1865; National Park Service: American Civil War; Weymouth T. Jordan and Louis H.
Manarin, North Carolina Troops, 1861-1865; D. H. Hill, Confederate Military History Of North Carolina: North Carolina
In The Civil War, 1861-1865; Christopher M. Watford, The Civil War in North Carolina: Soldiers' and Civilians' Letters
and Diaries, 1861-1865. Volume 2: The Mountains; Library of Congress; National Archives and Records Administration; State
Library of North Carolina; North Carolina Office of Archives and History; North Carolina Museum of History; E. Stanly
Godbolt, Jr. and Mattie U. Russell, Confederate Colonel and Cherokee Chief: The Life of William Holland Thomas; Paul A. Thomsen, Rebel Chief: The Motley Life of Colonel William Holland Thomas C.S.A.
|
