Joseph A. Walker (colonel)
Joseph Allen Walker | |
|---|---|
.jpg) | |
| Born | May 18, 1835 Spartanburg, South Carolina, U.S. |
| Died | January 27, 1902 (aged 66) Spartanburg, South Carolina, U.S. |
| Buried | Oakwood Cemetery, Spartanburg, South Carolina |
| Allegiance | Confederate States |
| Branch | Confederate States Army |
| Years of service | 1861–1865 |
| Rank | Colonel |
| Commands | 5th South Carolina Infantry Regiment |
| Battles / wars | American Civil War |
Joseph Allen Walker (May 18, 1835 – January 27, 1902) was a Confederate colonel who commanded the 5th South Carolina Infantry Regiment and the main colonel of Jenkins' Brigade of the Army of Northern Virginia during the American Civil War.
Biography
[edit]Origin
[edit]Joseph was born on May 18, 1835, at Spartanburg, South Carolina. His prewar life consisted of being a clerk and a merchant as well as marrying Susan Elizabeth Walker at one point.[1] A few months before the outbreak of the American Civil War, Walker raised the Spartan Rifles at Spartanburg and was elected captain of the rifles.[2]
American Civil War
[edit]When the American Civil War broke out, the Spartan Rifles were integrated into the 5th South Carolina Infantry Regiment as Company K on April 13, 1861, and Walker would command the company for a year until he was transferred to the Palmetto Sharpshooters where he would be a lieutenant colonel on April 15, 1862.[2][3] He was then fully promoted to colonel on July 22 of the same year.[1] Walker was then a part of Robert E. Lee's Army of the Potomac as the main colonel of Micah Jenkins' brigade.[4] Walker would then serve at the Battle of South Mountain[4] and the Battle of Antietam.[5] Parham would then serve as a state representative of South Carolina in 1864 before surrendering around the end of the American Civil War.[1]
Post-War Life
[edit]After the war, Walker returned to becoming a merchant until 1875.[1][2] He would then be in the cotton and fertilizer trade until 1885.[2] After that, he reorganized the Merchants and Farmers Bank and became president of the bank.[1][2] He would also be Mayor of Spartanburg for around 10 years.[2] Walker died on January 27, 1902, and would be buried on Oakwood Cemetery at Spartanburg.
James L. Kemper considered Walker to be a "A capital soldier, a good disciplinarian, and peculiarly adapted to command our citizen soldiers."[1]
References
[edit]- ^ a b c d e f Bruce S. Allardice (2008). Confederate Colonels: A Biographical Register. University of Missouri Press. p. 383. ISBN 978-0826266484.
- ^ a b c d e f "Antietam: LCol Joseph Walker". Antietam on the Web. Retrieved March 12, 2022.
- ^ "Organization of Kemper's Division of the Confederate Army, August 1862". Civil War in the East. Retrieved March 12, 2022.
- ^ a b Joseph Pierro, ed. (August 21, 2012). The Maryland Campaign of September 1862: Ezra A. Carman's Definitive Study of the Union and Confederate Armies at Antietam. Routledge. p. 420. ISBN 978-1135912390.
- ^ "Army of Northern Virginia - Right Wing, part 2 - Antietam National Battlefield". National Park Service. Retrieved March 12, 2022.