Walter C . Whitaker Walter Chiles Whitaker ( August 8 , 1823 – July 9 , 1887 ) was an American farmer , attorney , and soldier . He served as an officer in the United States Army during the Mexican – American War , and also was a Union general during the American Civil War . After the war he returned to his profession as an attorney . Early life and career . Whitaker was born in the city of Shelbyville , located in Shelby County , Kentucky . He attended Bethany College in modern day West Virginia . Whitaker was working as a lawyer when the Mexican – American War began . In 1847 Whitaker volunteered for service during the war with Mexico , and was commissioned a second lieutenant in the 6th Kentucky Infantry Regiment beginning on October 1 . He served until July 21 , 1848 , when he was mustered out of the volunteers . After Mexico , Whitaker returned to home to Kentucky , where he began running a large farm . He then became a criminal law attorney in Shelbyville . Later he was elected as a legislator to the Kentucky General Assembly , serving until the American Civil War was well underway . While in the state senate , Whitaker proposed the resolution that set Kentucky on the side of the Union , ending the state ' s brief period of neutrality in the war . Civil War service . In late 1861 Whitaker chose to follow the Union cause and re - entered the U . S . Army . He was appointed the colonel of his old regiment , the 6th Kentucky , on December 24 . The 6th fought at the Battle of Stones River in 1862 , and Whitaker was wounded in his left elbow during the battle ' s first day on December 31 . During the first day of the battle , his regiment defended the Round Forest as part of Col . William B . Hazen ' s brigade . On June 25 , 1863 , Whitaker was promoted to brigadier general , and given brigade command in the Army of the Cumberland that August . He fought at the Union defense at the Battle of Chickamauga that fall as part of Brig . Gen . Gordon Granger ' s Reserve Corps , and was again wounded , hit in his abdomen on September 20 . He continued to serve in Army of the Cumberland , fighting at Lookout Mountain and Rossville Gap during the Third Battle of Chattanooga on November 23 and was once more wounded in action during the fight . He was reportedly so drunk at Chickamauga that his regimental commanders had to fend for themselves . At Lookout Mountain he was also " deep in his cups " though he was sober enough to order a charge that contributed to the Union success . Whitaker and his brigade then fought during the Atlanta Campaign of 1864 . He participated in the inconclusive Battle of Resaca that spring , and received his last Civil War wound there on May 15 when he was injured by the concussion of an artillery shell which exploded nearby . He recovered by that fall and was given divisional command in the Army of the Cumberland beginning on September 19 . Whitaker participated in the Battle of Franklin on November 30 , 1864 , and then at the Battle of Nashville on December 15 and 16 , serving under Maj . Gen . George H . Thomas . On March 13 , 1865 , Whitaker was appointed a brevet major general for his actions near Atlanta , Georgia , on that date . He was then mustered out of the Union Army on August 24 , after the end of the American Civil War . Postbellum . After leaving the U . S . Army , Whitaker was a lawyer in Louisville , Kentucky , again in criminal cases . He also reportedly drank to excess most of his life , and spent some years in a mental asylum after the war . Whitaker died at the age of 63 in Lyndon , Kentucky , supposedly in full mental health , and was buried in Shelbyville ' s Grove Hill Cemetery .