Background
WALKER, James Alexander was born on August 27, 1832 in Mount Meridian, Augusta County, Virginia, United States, United States. Son of Alexander and Hannah (Hinton) Walker.
WALKER, James Alexander was born on August 27, 1832 in Mount Meridian, Augusta County, Virginia, United States, United States. Son of Alexander and Hannah (Hinton) Walker.
Private school, southern university. University of Virginia.
Walker was dismissed from Virginia Military Institute during his senior year (1852) at the instigation of a faculty member, Thomas J. Jackson. (The charges were never aired.) He later studied law at the University of Virginia in 1854-1855, was admitted to the Virginia bar, and began his practice in Newbern, Pulaski County. In November 1858, he married Sarah Ann Poage, by whom he had four sons and two daughters.
Walker was an engineer on the Covington and Ohio Railroad in 1856 and commonwealth’s attorney for Pulaski County, Virginia, in 1860. When the Civil War began, he volunteered for duty in the Confederate Army. He entered as a captain in the Pulaski Guards of the Stonewall Brigade, headed by his former antagonist.
After serving at Harper’s Ferry, he was promoted to colonel of the 13th Virginia Infantry upon the recommendation of Ambrose P. Hill in February 1862. He participated in Jackson’s Valley campaign and the battles of Sharpsburg and Fredericksburg in 1862. On May 15, 1863, at Jackson’s request, Walker was promoted to brigadier general and was placed in command of the Stonewall Brigade.
He later fought at Gettysburg, Mine Run, Winchester and the Wilderness, where he was wounded at Spotsylvania on May 12, 1864. The following July, he protected Lee’s communications and supplies in his defense of the Richmond Railroad. He fought at Hare’s Hill in February 1865 and led Early’s Division at Appomattox.
He surrendered at Appomattox and was soon paroled. After the war, he farmed and practiced law in Pulaski County. He served a term in the state House from 1871 to 1872 and was lieutenant governor of Virginia in 1877.
A Democrat until 1893, Walker becamea Republican because of his opposition to government free trade policies. During his two Republican terms in Congress from 1895 to 1899, Walker helped to develop the mineral resources of his state. After he lost a bid for reelection in 1898, he returned to his law practice in Wytheville, Virginia.
"Peculiar institution" of slavery was not only expedient but also ordained by God and upheld in Holy Scripture.
Stands for preserving slavery, states' rights, and political liberty for whites. Every individual state is sovereign, even to the point of secession.
Served, captain to brigadier general, in C.S.A. Member Virginia House of Delegates, 1871-1872. Member Congress, 1895-1899.
Spouse Sarah Ann Poage.
