William Stephen Walker William Stephen Walker ( April 13 , 1822 – June 7 , 1899 ) was a Confederate States Army brigadier general during the American Civil War ( Civil War ) . He was born in Pittsburgh , Pennsylvania but was raised by an uncle from Mississippi , who was a Secretary of the Treasury and U . S . Senator . Walker served as a first lieutenant in the United States Army during the Mexican - American War from 1847 to 1848 . He was discharged in 1848 . Walker rejoined the army as captain in the 1st U . S . Cavalry Regiment on March 3 , 1855 and served until he resigned on May 1 , 1861 . Walker was wounded in the left arm and lost his left foot during the Battle of Ware Bottom Church during the Overland Campaign . After the war , he lived at Atlanta , Georgia . Early life . William Stephen Walker was born April 13 , 1822 at Pittsburg , Pennsylvania but was raised in Mississippi and Washington , D . C . by his uncle , Secretary of the Treasury ( under President James K . Polk and Senator Robert J . Walker , who also was originally from Pennsylvania . He attended a private school in Georgetown , D . C . Walker volunteered for U . S . Army service in the Mexican - American War and was appointed first lieutenant in the infantry on February 27 , 1847 . On April 9 , 1847 , he was assigned to the 1st U . S . Regiment of Voltiguers and Foot Riflemen , a light infantry regiment . He was regimental adjutant between May 1 , 1847 and June 15 , 1847 . Walker was appointed a brevet captain for his role in the Battle of Chapultepec , September 13 , 1847 . With the disbanding of the Voltiguer regiment at the end of the war , Walker was discharged on August 31 , 1848 . Walker returned to the U . S . Army as a captain of the 1st U . S . Cavalry Regiment on March 3 , 1855 when the army was expanded during that year . American Civil War service . William S . Walker resigned from the U . S . Army on May 1 , 1861 . He had already been appointed a captain in the infantry of the Army of the Confederate States ( the regular army of the Confederate States ) on March 16 , 1861 or , according to other versions , was appointed to this position soon after his resignation from the U . S . Army . He was appointed as from Florida . Early in the war , he served as a mustering officer . Walker served as an aide - de - camp to General Robert E . Lee from November 5 , 1861 to December 1861 . Walker served as assistant inspector general , Department of South Carolina , Georgia and East Florida , December 1861 to March 14 , 1862 . He was promoted to colonel and assistant inspector general on March 22 , 1862 . On May 29 , 1862 , Walker was in immediate command of a force which drove off a Union Army force at the First Battle of Pocotaligo , South Carolina as they tried to expand their bridgehead from Port Royal , South Carolina gained at the Battle of Port Royal , on November 7 , 1861 . Walker was promoted to brigadier general on October 22 , 1862 . He was alternately twice in charge of the Third Subdistrict and Fourth Subdistrict of the District of South Carolina . He was in command at Kinston , North Carolina , where he had just gone on April 29 , 1864 , when he was called to help General P . G . T . Beauregard defend Petersburg , Virginia during the Overland Campaign on May 17 , 1864 . On May 20 , 1864 , William Stephen Walker was severely wounded and captured at the Battle of Ware Bottom Church during the Bermuda Hundred Campaign . He was wounded in the left arm and lost his left leg after he led a charge into the Union line and was subjected to a rifle volley after refusing to surrender and then captured . Walker thought he was mortally wounded but was saved by Union surgeon John J . Craven at Fort Monroe , who amputated his leg . He was exchanged on October 29 , 1864 . Walker served at Weldon , North Carolina from October 29 , 1864 to May 1 , 1865 and was in command in North Carolina at the end of the war . He was paroled at Greensboro , North Carolina on May 1 , 1865 . Aftermath . After the Civil War , Walker moved to Georgia . William Stephen Walker died at Atlanta Georgia on June 7 , 1899 . He is buried in Oakland Cemetery at Atlanta .