Background
WALKER, William Henry Talbot was born on November 16, 1816 in Augusta, Georgia, United States, United States. Son of Freeman and Mary Washington (Creswell) Walker. His father, who died when William was eleven, was a U.S. senator from Georgia and a mayor of Augusta.
Education
Private school, United States Military Academy.
Career
Walker attended Richmond Academy in Augusta and graduated forty-sixth in a class of fifty from the U.S. Military Academy in 1837. He was a Democrat who was not a strong secessionist. He had two sons and two daughters by his marriage to Mary Townsend.
In 1837-1838, he fought the Indians in Florida, where he was breveted first lieutenant for his performance at the battle of Okeechobee. He resigned from the army after being seriously wounded in 1838 but was reappointed in 1840. Promoted to captain in 1845, he was twice breveted for bravery during the Mexican War, where he was again seriously wounded at Molino del Rey.
From 1854 to 1856, he was an instructor of infantry tactics and commandant of cadets at West Point. He resigned his major’s commission in the U.S. Army in December 1860. Commissioned a brigadier general in the Confederate Army on May 25, 1861, he saw service in Pensacola and northern Virginia before resigning his commission in October 1861 to join the anti-Davis forces under Georgia Governor Joseph Brown.
He served as major general of the 1st Division of Georgia Volunteers with a command in Savannah before being reappointed to brigadier general in February 1863. Walker served ably at Vicksburg under General Joseph E. Johnston, at whose request he was promoted to major general on May 23, 1863. His later service was with the Army of Tennessee, and he was killed while supporting General John B. Hood at Atlanta.
Religion
"Peculiar institution" of slavery was not only expedient but also ordained by God and upheld in Holy Scripture.
Politics
Stands for preserving slavery, states' rights, and political liberty for whites. Every individual state is sovereign, even to the point of secession.