# Confederate Military History/Volume 3/Biographical/W

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​Brigadier-General Henry Harrison Walker, a native of Virginia, was appointed from that State to the United States military academy in 1849, and was graduated in 1853 with the brevet of second lieutenant of infantry. ​His service with the United States army was rendered first in barracks at Newport, Ky., and then until 1855 in New Mexico. He became second lieutenant, Sixth infantry, in 1855, and first lieutenant in 1857, and in the latter year was appointed aide-de-camp to Governor Walker of Kansas. After assisting in quelling the disturbances in that State, he served upon the staff of General Clarke, at San Francisco, three years. The secession of Virginia called him from frontier duty at Fort Churchill, Nev., to offer his services to his native State. He received at first a commission as captain of infantry in the regular army of the Confederate States. Subsequently he was promoted lieutenant-colonel of the Fortieth Virginia infantry regiment, Field's brigade. At Gaines' Mill he was twice wounded, and was mentioned by General Field as "a gallant and meritorious officer," and by Gen. A. P. Hill as one of those deserving especial mention for conspicuous gallantry. In July, 1863, after having been in charge of a convalescent camp, he was promoted brigadier-general and assigned to the command of his old brigade, which had meanwhile been under the leadership for some time of Gen. Henry Heth and Colonel Brockenbrough. He served creditably as a brigade commander in the battles of Bristoe Station and Mine Run, in the latter affair his brigade being the first infantry to meet the enemy and check his advance. In December he was ordered to the Shenandoah valley to reinforce Early, and was recalled from that region in March, 1864, to the main army. He did good and brave service through the bloody battles of the Wilderness and Spottsylvania Court House, until severely wounded on May 10, 1864. On November 10th he was assigned to duty as a member of the general court-martial of the department of Richmond, and his brigade, much reduced, was consolidated with Archer's.
Brigadier-General James A. Walker, now living in Wytheville, Va., is the son of Alexander Walker and Hannah Hinton, whose ancestors were among the early Scotch-Irish settlers of the valley of Virginia. He was born in Augusta county on the 27th of August, 1832. After receiving the best elementary education that the schools of the neighborhood afforded, he entered the fourth class at the Virginia military institute in 1848. ​Here he remained until the spring of 1852, and was in the graduating class of that year, when he took offense at some remark made to him by Stonewall Jackson (then Professor Jackson), in the lecture room, and a passage of sharp words took place between the two. Cadet Walker, feeling that he had been publicly insulted and wronged by Professor Jackson, sent him a challenge to fight a duel. It is related of Jackson by one with whom he consulted on the occasion, that, notwithstanding he was a grave professor and the challenger a mere boy, he for a considerable time, debated in his mind the propriety of accepting the challenge, expressing a serious wish that it was possible to do so. Walker's rebellion in the class-room was a grave offense, at an institution where strict military discipline is maintained; but the sending of a challenge to one of the principal officers and professors was a crime not to be overlooked or forgiven, and though Walker stood high in his class, and was popular with all who knew his honest heart and chivalric qualities, he was court-martialed and dismissed from the institution. In after years, when Jackson and Walker met, as officers in the field, and the former saw his wayward pupil in the front of every fight, always prompt, never shirking the most arduous duties, nor flinching in the most trying and dangerous situations, he freely blotted from his remembrance all thought of the occurrence between them at the institute, and pushed him for promotion whenever there was an opportunity to do so. They became friends and no officer in the army stood higher in the esteem of Jackson than Walker. After the war General Walker's diploma was sent to him by order of the board of visitors, and he is enrolled as a graduate of the Virginia military institute. After leaving the institute. Walker accepted a position in the engineer corps, then engaged in locating the line of the Covington & Ohio (now Chesapeake & Ohio) railroad, from the Big Sandy river to Charlestown, and in this rough and unexciting life he spent eighteen months. He then resigned and returned to his home in Augusta county. Shortly afterward he began to read law in the office of Col. John B. Baldwin, at Staunton. During the session of 1854-55 he took a law course at the university of Virginia, and immediately afterward began to practice his profession at Newbern, Pulaski county, Va. In 1860 he ​was elected commonwealth's attorney of that county and filled that position until the spring of 1863. Immediately after the John Brown raid, Walker organized a local militia company, the Pulaski Guards, and being elected their captain, drilled them so faithfully that when Governor Letcher called for troops from Virginia, his was one of the best companies mustered into the service. In April, 1861, Captain Walker and his company were ordered to report for duty at Harper's Ferry, and there joined Stonewall Jackson's command. Captain Walker remained with the Fourth regiment until after the skirmish at Falling Waters, and for conspicuous gallantry and exhibition of high soldierly qualities, was promoted to the rank of lieutenant-colonel and assigned to duty in the Thirteenth Virginia infantry, of which A. P. Hill was colonel. Hill was made brigadier in March, 1862, and soon afterward Walker was made full colonel. When General Jackson left Manassas for Yorktown, Colonel Walker's regiment formed part of General Ewell's division. Later he joined Jackson's command, and participated in the battles of the famous Valley campaign. Colonel Walker commanded a brigade nearly all the year of 1862. At Sharpsburg he commanded Trimble's brigade, and at Fredericksburg, Early's. In the spring of 1863 he was promoted to the rank of brigadier-general, and by the request of Stonewall Jackson was ordered to take command of the old Stonewall brigade. At the head of this famous body of soldiers he fought at Winchester, Gettysburg, Mine Run, Fredericksburg, Wilderness and Spottsylvania Court House, and at the latter place, the 12th of May, received a musket ball in the elbow of the left arm, which caused an excessively painful wound, which compelled resection of the bones and his temporary retirement from service. In July, 1864, with his arm still in a sling and his health feeble, he was again called into service and assigned to the defenses of the Richmond & Danville and "Southside" railroads, these roads covering Lee's main line of communication and supplies. He was successful in holding back the raiding cavalry, and in keeping the railroad communications open with the south and west, and for this service received the warm commendations of his superior officers. In February, General Walker asked leave to return to the front once more, and solicited the favor of taking charge of the ​brigade, which, by the death of the gallant Pegram, was left without a brigadier, and in which was his old regiment, the Thirteenth Virginia, a body of troops than whom, he has often been heard to say, no braver ever fought in all the famous armies of the world. His request was granted. Being the senior brigadier, during Early's absence in the valley of Virginia, with an independent command, he led two brigades of the division in a successful attack on Hare's hill. Still at the head of this division General Walker retreated, with General Lee, fighting by the way at Sailor's creek, High Bridge and Farmville, to Appomattox, where he surrendered himself and about 1,500 officers and men to Grant. The war over, General Walker returned to his home in Pulaski county, and immediately went to work putting out a crop of corn, with the two mules he had brought home from the army with him. As soon as possible he began to practice law, and gave his entire time to his profession until the summer of 1868. In that year, without any solicitations on his part, he was nominated as the conservative candidate for lieutenant-governor, and had canvassed several counties before the election was postponed by order of the military authorities, and Congress commenced reconstructing the State. When later it was found expedient to nominate a Northern Democrat and Gilbert C. Walker's name was mentioned, General Walker withdrew his name and canvassed the State for Walker against Wells. In 1871 he was elected to the house of delegates. In 1876 he was made lieutenant-governor on the ticket with Governor Holliday. During the debt controversy in Virginia, General Walker sided actively with the debt-paying element. After his term as lieutenant-governor expired, he took, for several years, little part in State politics, being kept busy by the demands of a large law practice. He was also much interested and very active in the development of the mineral resources of Virginia. While studying the interests of his section of the State, he became an enthusiastic "Protectionist" in politics, and, at that time, indeed, the Democratic party in southwestern Virginia was pronounced in its advocacy of protection principles. When, a year or two later, Mr. Cleveland avowed his free trade policy and became the Democratic leader and their candidate for President, General Walker severed his ​connection with that party, and has since been a Republican in principle and affiliation. He was elected to Congress from the Ninth district of Virginia by the Republicans in 1894, and was re-elected in 1896. In July, 1898, he was a third time nominated. In the official records of the civil war, published by the government, General Walker's name, coupled with honorable mention for gallant conduct or faithful services, occurs a number of times in the reports of Confederate officers. One interesting fact connected with him is this, that he is the only officer who ever commanded the Stonewall brigade who survived the war. All of the others, Generals Jackson, Winder, Garnett and Paxton, were killed in battle. Colonels Allen, Botts and Baylor, while temporarily in command of the Stonewall brigade, also fell at the head of their troops. As the sole surviving commander of this famous brigade, General Walker has been an object of much interest in the North and West, and in the last ten years has been a number of times invited to make addresses on commanders of the civil war and kindred subjects, in the cities of those sections. He has in this way been one of those ex-Confederate officers who have had much to do with the present era of good feeling between the sections. Like Wheeler and Lee and others, he has long been broad-minded enough to see that loyalty to the "lost cause" is entirely consistent with loyalty to the government under which he lives and from which he claims protection.
Brigadier-General Reuben Lindsay Walker was born at Logan, Albemarle county, Va., May 29, 1827. His father was Capt. Lewis Walker, and his early home was in a part of the State noted for wealth and refinement, the prominent families of which were connected with his by blood and affinity. He was graduated in 1845 at the Virginia military institute, where his popularity among his fellow cadets is one of the pleasant traditions of the school. After graduation he adopted the profession of civil engineer, and became employed upon the extension of the Chesapeake & Ohio railroad. In 1857 he married a daughter of Dr. Albert Elam, of Chesterfield county, and a few years later engaged in farming in New Kent county. He was sergeant-at-arms of the memorable Virginia convention of 1861, and immediately after the ​passage of the ordinance of secession he applied to Governor Letcher for commission and permission to organize an expedition to surprise and capture Fortress Monroe. The governor denied him this opportunity, but his ability was recognized by a commission as captain and assignment to command of the Purcell battery, the first company of that arm to leave Richmond. He was stationed with this company on the Potomac near Aquia creek, and from that region he reached the field of First Manassas in time to shell the retreating Federals with his six Parrott guns. He subsequently was in action at Potomac creek, Aquia creek, Marlborough point, Free Stone point and Evans' point during the summer and fall of 1861. March 31, 1862, he was promoted major, and in this rank he served as chief of artillery of A. P. Hill's division. During the Seven Days' battles he was sick at Richmond, but after that he was identified with the operations of A. P. Hill's command until the close of the war. During the reduction of Harper's Ferry, in the Maryland campaign, he crossed the Shenandoah with several batteries and secured a position on Loudoun heights that commanded the enemy's works. At Fredericksburg Hill reported that Lieutenant-Colonel Walker "directed the fire from his guns with admirable coolness and precision." Promotion to colonel rapidly followed, in which rank he fought at Chancellorsville, and when Hill was called to command the Third army corps, Colonel Walker was appointed chief of artillery of that command. At Gettysburg he commanded sixty-three guns and handled them with skill and effect, and later in 1863 he took part in various minor engagements. In the campaign of 1864 he served in all the principal battles, beginning with the Wilderness and closing with Reams' Station. In January, 1865, he was promoted brigadier-general and assigned to command of the Third artillery corps, still attached to Hill's army corps. Of the conduct of his command in the final days at Petersburg, it was reported: "The conduct of officers and men was worthy of all praise, and that of the drivers and supernumeraries of the artillery, who had been by General Walker armed with muskets, deserves special mention. Those in Fort Gregg fought until literally crushed by numbers, and scarcely a man survived." On the retreat he reached with his artillery a point between ​Appomattox Court House and Station, where he was attacked by Custer's cavalry division on April 8th. The dashing Federal general reported: "The enemy succeeded in repulsing nearly all our attacks, until nearly 9 o'clock at night, when by a general advance along my line he was forced from his position." On the next day the army was surrendered, and General Walker retired to private life, with a record of participation in sixty-three battles and combats. In 1872, after some years devoted to farming, he removed to Alabama, as superintendent of the Marion & Selma railroad, but four years later returned to Virginia. He was connected with the Richmond & Danville railroad, later had charge of the Richmond street railways, took part in the construction of the Richmond & Alleghany railroad, and was superintendent of the building of the women's department of the State penitentiary. In 1884 he became superintendent of construction of the Texas State capitol and resided at Austin until 1888. Subsequently he lived upon his farm at the confluence of the James and Rivanna rivers, until his death, June 7, 1890.
Brigadier-General Daniel Adams Weisiger, in early manhood was a resident of Petersburg, Va., where he engaged in mercantile pursuits until November, 1846, when, the State of Virginia being called upon for a regiment for service in Mexico, he volunteered and aided in recruiting a company of 85 men, of which he was elected senior second lieutenant. He was finally promoted to the adjutancy of the regiment, which office he held until the close of the war, and his regiment was mustered out at Fort Monroe, in August, 1848. He returned to Petersburg and was again engaged in business until April, 1861. In May, 1853, he was unanimously elected colonel of the Thirty-ninth "regiment of Virginia militia," which he commanded until i860, when a battalion of volunteers, uniformed, armed and fully equipped for active service, was formed, and he was unanimously tendered the command. On April 20th he was ordered to move with his command to Norfolk. With his command and a battery of artillery, he arrived there in the afternoon of that day, and witnessed the evacuation of the navy yard that night. On May 9, 1861, he was appointed colonel in the Confederate States service, and his battalion of five ​companies was soon recruited to a full regiment, and designated as the Twelfth Virginia regiment. Upon the reorganization of the army in May, 1862, he was re-elected colonel without opposition. After the evacuation of Norfolk, he and his regiment took a position at Drewry's bluff, and there acted in support of the fort during the attack by the Federal gunboats, which was handsomely repulsed. Soon afterward the regiment was ordered to Richmond, and became a part of the army of Northern Virginia. Leading the Twelfth, Colonel Weisiger participated in the battle of Seven Pines, and on June 2Sth was engaged in a heavy skirmish at French's farm on the Charles City road. This proved to be the commencement of the Seven Days' battles around Richmond, which culminated in the battle of Malvern Hill on July 1, 1862. In that combat Weisiger's regi- ment was on the extreme right of the lines, occupied the last ridge in front of McClellan's army, and held that position during the night when the Federal army retreated to Harrison's landing on James river. Late in the month of August, 1862, the Twelfth was ordered to join the army of Northern Virginia. On August 30th they arrived at the field of Second Manassas, early in the morning, and were held in reserve until the afternoon, when they were ordered to the front and placed on the right of the line of battle. After passing over a burning rail fence, causing some confusion, which was soon rectified, the regiment encountered a heavy artillery fire in which Adjt.-Gen. William E. Cameron was severely wounded by a piece of shell. In a very short time Brig.-Gen. William Mahone was wounded and carried from the field, and the brigade came under the command of Colonel Weisiger. About this time Brig.-Gen. A. R. Wright, of Georgia, reported that he was hard pressed and wanted Weisiger's assistance. The latter immediately complied, but in the movement was caught under a heavy fire and dangerously wounded and taken from the field. In consequence he was disabled for duty in the field. On May 6, 1864, the second day of the fighting in the Wilderness, General Longstreet was wounded and was succeeded by Gen. R. H. Anderson, he by General Mahone, and Colonel Weisiger was placed in command of the Virginia brigade as Mahone's successor. He commanded the brigade thenceforward, in the battles of the campaign from ​the Wilderness to Cold Harbor, and in nearly every battle around Petersburg from June 20, 1864, until the evacuation. When the Federal troops occupied the gap in the Confederate works made by the terrific mine explosion of July 30th, he led his Virginia brigade, only 800 strong, against about 5,000 of the enemy, with such gallantry and success that he was promoted to brigadier-general, to date from the battle of the Crater. During his military career he participated in over twenty battles and skirmishes, was wounded three times, and two horses were shot under him. He finally led his brigade on the march to Appomattox, and was surrendered with the army.
Brigadier-General G. C. Wharton was elected major of the Forty-fifth regiment, Virginia infantry, in July, 1861, this being one of the regiments organized by General Floyd in southwest Virginia. A month later he became colonel of the Fifty-first regiment, which he led through the Western Virginia campaign of General Floyd during the summer and fall of 1861. Accompanying Floyd to Kentucky early in 1862, he was assigned at Fort Donelson to the command of a brigade composed of his own and the Fifty-sixth Virginia regiment. In his report of the battle, General Pillow particularly commended the gallantry of Colonel Wharton and his brigade, who, after being under fire or fighting in the ditches four days, advanced and drove the enemy from their front on February 15th. On the next day, surrender having been decided upon, a considerable part of Floyd's command was brought away in safety, and Wharton rendered valuable service in preserving the government stores at Nashville. Subsequently returning to southwest Virginia, he defeated a Federal regiment at Princeton, May 17, 1862, and in September participated in Loring's occupation of the Kanawha valley, as commander of the Third brigade of the army of Western Virginia. Subsequently he was in command at the Narrows of New river, with his own and Echols' brigade, until February, 1863, when he was stationed in the neighborhood of Abingdon. When Gen. Sam Jones was ordered in July to send troops to Lee's army, Wharton was detached, and Jones sent word to Lee, "He is an admirable officer, has commanded a brigade for eighteen months. ​Let him command my troops until I come." He was stationed at Winchester, and was temporarily in charge of the Valley district. Soon afterward he was promoted brigadier-general, and in August returned to his former station on the Virginia & Tennessee railroad. Later he was transferred to General Longstreet's command in east Tennessee, until April, 1864, when he was ordered to report to General Breckinridge. In command of his brigade of veterans he took a conspicuous part in the defeat of Sigel at New Market, and served with honor in the Confederate lines at Cold Harbor. Returning toward the southwest for the defense of Lynchburg, he took part in the pursuit of Hunter down the valley and the expedition through Maryland to Washington. During the Shenandoah campaign he commanded a division comprising the infantry brigades of the old army of Western Virginia. After suffering severely during the valley battles of 1864, the division was badly cut up in the fight at Waynesboro, March 2, 1865. After the close of the war General Wharton lived at Radford.
Brigadier-General Williams Carter Wickham was the son of William Fanning Wickham and Anne Carter, and the great-grandson of Gen. Thomas Nelson, one of the signers of the Declaration of Independence and the commander-in-chief of the Virginia Line in the Revolutionary army. He was born at Richmond, Va., September 21, 1820, moved with his parents to Hanover county in 1827; was educated at the university of Virginia, and admitted to the bar in 1842. He practiced in a country circuit for a few years, and then gave up the law for the life of a Virginia planter. On January 11, 1848, he married Lucy Penn Taylor, great-granddaughter of John Penn, one of the signers of the Declaration of Independence from North Carolina. He was elected to the Virginia house of delegates in 1849; was presiding justice of the county court of Hanover county for many years. In 1858 he was commissioned captain of Virginia volunteer cavalry, and in 1859 was elected to the State senate from the district composed of Hanover and Henrico, as a Whig. In 1861, elected by the people of Henrico to the State convention as a Union man, he was bitterly opposed to the war and voted against the ordinance of secession, but immediately upon the secession of Virginia, ​he determined to share the fortunes of his people, and took his company, "the Hanover dragoons," into active service. He participated in the first battle of Manassas and the preceding outpost skirmishes, and in September, 1861, was commissioned by Governor Letcher, lieutenant-colonel of the Fourth Virginia cavalry. On May 4, 1862, he received a severe saber wound in a cavalry charge at Williamsburg, which prevented him from participating in the battles around Richmond. While wounded he was taken prisoner at his home on McClellan's advance, paroled, and speedily exchanged by special cartel for his wife's kinsman, Lieut.-Col. Thomas L. Kane, of the Pennsylvania "Bucktails." In August, 1862, he was commissioned colonel of the Fourth Virginia cavalry, and in that rank he participated in the battles of Second Manassas, Boonsboro, Sharpsburg and the frequent engagements of the cavalry under General Stuart. During the advance of the army of the Potomac into Virginia, after the battle of Sharpsburg, he was again wounded, by a piece of shell, in the neck, while temporarily in command of Fitz Lee's brigade at Upperville. Recovering from this wound, he regained his command in time to take part in the battle of Fredericksburg, December 12, 1862. When the army went into winter quarters, he was on the picket lines on the Rappahannock river from Fredericksburg to a point above the junction of the Rapidan, and was on those lines when Burnside made his unsuccessful attempt to cross the river again. In the spring of 1863, he and his command participated actively in the outpost conflicts preceding the battle of Chancellorsville, and was posted on the right flank during that battle. Prior to the opening of the campaign in 1863, while in command of his regiment at the front, he announced himself a candidate for the Confederate Congress from the Richmond district, and without going into the district was elected shortly after the battle of Chancellorsville, by an unparalleled majority. He, however, remained at his post in the army, leaving his seat in Congress vacant until the fall of 1864. On the advance into Pennsylvania Colonel Wickham's command formed a part of the force which Stuart took on his raid around Meade's army, rejoining the army of Northern Virginia on the eve of the battle of Gettysburg, was posted on the extreme left flank during that engagement, and ​aided in covering the retreat. On September 9, 1863, he was commissioned brigadier-general, and put in command of Wickham's brigade of Fitzhugh Lee's division. The cavalry of both armies had frequent encounters during the following months, the engagements at Bristoe, Brandy Station and Buckland Mills being the most serious until February, 1864, when the fighting to repel Kilpatrick's raid upon Richmond, and Custer's attack on Charlottesville was very desperate. In March and April, 1864, General Wickham and his brigade were again on guard on the Rapidan and Rappahannock rivers. He took part in the battles of the Wilderness and Spottsylvania Court House, and when Sheridan moved on Richmond, he was with Stuart on May 11th at Yellow Tavern. "Order Wickham to dismount his brigade and attack," was the last order given by General Stuart to a brigade of cavalry. Subsequently he was actively engaged in the battles of Totopotomay, Cold Harbor, Trevilian's, Reams' Station and many of the lesser cavalry engagements. On August 10, 1864, he and his command were ordered from the south side of the James river to join Early's army in the valley of Virginia, Fitzhugh Lee being in command of the cavalry corps with General Wickham in command of Lee's division. At the battle of Winchester on September 19, 1864, General Wickham covered the retreat. Rallying his men with great ability, General Early again sustained a terrific reverse at Fisher's hill, September 22d, and his army was saved from destruction by the successful defense of the Luray valley by Lee's cavalry division under the command of General Wickham, against the advance of Torbert's corps on which Sheridan relied to intercept the retreat of Early at New Market in the main valley. Rejoining General Early at Brown's gap, Wickham was ordered to guard Rockfish gap, and on arriving at the foot of the mountain attacked the Federal cavalry at Waynesboro, driving them back. The next day the enemy retreated down the valley, and the lines of the armies were established at Bridgewater. General Wickham resigned his commission in the Confederate army on October 5, 1864, transferred his command to General Rosser, went to Richmond and took his seat in Congress when the session opened. It took him but a few days after the assembling of the Confederate Congress to ascertain that the end of ​the Confederacy was drawing near, and for a brief period he had the hope that reunion could be brought about upon a basis which, while it would in no way tarnish the honor of the armies or people of the South, would save the lives of thousands of noble men, and preserve some of their property from the wreck of war. After the failure of the Hampton Roads conference, he continued at his post in Richmond, awaiting the end. After the surrender of the armies, General Wickham addressed himself to the effort to restore friendly relations between the sections of the Union; to reorganize on a mutually satisfactory basis the labor necessary for the farming operations of the country, and to induce his fellow-citizens to accept the situation. The condition of the South was terrible. General Wickham stood side by side with his old constituents and shared their fate. He had been educated a Whig and a Union man. When the war ended, his political faith remained unchanged, and as the Whig party had disappeared, he adopted the principles of the party which he regarded as its legitimate successor. On April 23, 1865, in an open letter, he aligned himself with the Republican party. This step estranged very many of his old associates from him. In November, 1865, he was elected president of the Virginia Central railroad company; in November, 1868, president of the Chesapeake & Ohio railroad company, and in 1869 was made vice-president of the company with C. P. Huntington as president, and continued as such until 1875, when he was appointed its receiver, which position be held until July 1, 1878, when he became its second vice-president and so continued until his death. He was elected chairman of the board of supervisors of Hanover county in 1871, and was continuously re-elected as long as he lived. In 1872 he was a member of the electoral college of Virginia, and cast his vote for General Grant. In 1880 he was honored by a tender of the secretaryship of the navy by President Hayes, but declined on account of business engagements. In 1881 he was tendered the nomination for governor of the State by the Republican convention, but declined to accept it. Opposing the "readjuster party" in 1883, he again became a member of the State senate, and was the chairman of the finance committee of that body until his death, although he occupied an independent position and declined to go into any caucus. ​While not an impassioned speaker, he was brave and calm and cool, and possessed in a remarkable degree the capacity to arouse manifestations of enthusiasm and personal attachment. On the 23d of July, 1888, he died in his office in Richmond of heart failure. The men of his old command, from many of whom he had become politically estranged, resolved that "in the camp and on the field of battle, in the fatigue of the march, in the gloom of the hospital, under the depression of the waiting and in the glory of the charge, he was the friend, the comrade, the guardian, the leader of his men, the beau-ideal of a soldier and of a commander," and they organized to perpetuate his memory in bronze. In 1890 the general assembly of Virginia provided for a site on the capitol grounds for the statue of General Wickham. which was unveiled on October 29, 1891, the oration being delivered by Gen. Fitzhugh Lee.
Brigadier-General Henry Alexander Wise was born at Drummondtown, Accomack county, December 3, 1806, a descendant of John Wise, who came to Virginia from England about 1650, and was a man of influence in the colony. Maj. John Wise, father of General Wise, clerk of Accomack county and twice speaker of the Virginia senate, died in 1812, and his wife, Sarah Corbin, in 1813. Young Wise was cared for by his kinsmen, and educated at Washington college. Pa. After his graduation in 1825, he studied law three years with Henry St. George Tucker, and in 1828 removed to Nashville, Tenn., for the practice of his profession. Returning to Accomack in 1831, he soon became prominent politically, and in 1833, as a supporter of Jackson, was elected to Congress, the contest at the polls being followed by a duel in which his opponent for Congress was wounded. He was re-elected in 1835 and again in 1837, and was a zealous advocate of the admission of Texas. In 1837 he acted as second in a duel between William J. Graves, of Kentucky, and Jonathan Cilley, of Maine, both congressmen, in which Cilley was killed, and Wise was made to suffer much of the opprobrium of the unfortunate affair. He was very influential in causing the nomination of John Tyler for vice-president and exerted considerable power under his administration. Tyler appointed him minister to France, but the Senate objecting, he ​was appointed to Brazil in 1844, and remained there until 1847. He was a Democratic elector in 1848 and 1850, and a member of the constitutional convention in 1850. In 1855 he made a brilliant campaign for the governorship against the Know-Nothing party and was elected. In 1859 he published a treatise on territorial government, upholding the doctrine of congressional protection of slavery in the new territories. The execution of the servile insurrectionist, John Brown, December 2, 1859, was one of the last events of his administration. In 1861 he sat in the Virginia convention, and as a member of the committee on federal relations, presented one of three reports upon the position Virginia should take in the crisis. He entered heartily into the military defense of the State, and obtained permission to raise an independent partisan command. In May he was advised by President Davis to take a commission as brigadier-general of provisional forces with command in the Kanawha valley. Reaching Charleston from a sick bed in June, he completed the organization of Wise's Legion, in command of which, with the Kanawha volunteers, he endeavored patriotically to withstand the superior forces sent against him. He fought with intelligence and skill in the vicinity of Charleston, and selected the position at Sewell mountain, where Lee took command, confronting Rosecrans until that officer retreated. In the fall of 1861 he was assigned to command at Roanoke island, N. C., where, in his absence, many of his legion were captured, and his son, Capt. O. Jennings Wise, of the Richmond Light Infantry Blues, was mortally wounded. His feeble health now kept him from the field for some time, but in 1863, he was given command of the district between the Mattapony and the James, with his brigade, the Twenty-fourth, Thirty-fourth and Forty-sixth infantry, a battalion of artillery and a squadron of cavalry. While at Chaffin's farm, he conducted some gallant attacks upon the enemy, and recovered Williamsburg from General Dix. He subsequently served under Beauregard at Charleston, with his command drove the enemy from John's island, and took part in two battles in Florida. Returning to Virginia in May, 1864, on June 1st he was assigned to command the First military district, including Petersburg. He participated in the defeat of Butler at Drewry's bluff, and on June 15th his brigade alone held ​at bay the army corps of A. J. Smith, until Lee could cross the James. Faithful to the last, he commanded his brigade in Anderson's corps, during the siege of Petersburg, gallantly fought in the front line of battle March 29 and 31, 1865, and during the retreat, on April 6th, made a gallant and successful charge against the enemy. In Gen. Fitzhugh Lee's report of the final operations, he wrote most fitly: "The past services of Gen. Henry A. Wise, his antecedents in civil life, and his age, caused his bearing upon this most trying retreat to shine conspicuously forth. His unconquerable spirit was filled with as much earnestness and zeal in April, 1865, as when he first took up arms four years ago, and the freedom with which he exposed a long life laden with honors proved he was willing to sacrifice it if it would conduce toward attaining the liberty of his country." After the war he engaged in the practice of law at Richmond. His death occurred September 14, 1876. His sons who survived him were Richard Alsop, a distinguished physician, and John Sergeant, captain Richmond Light Infantry Blues, and after the war a congressman from Virginia.