John George Walker John George Walker ( July 22 , 1821 – July 20 , 1893 ) was a Confederate general in the American Civil War . He served as a brigadier under Jackson and Longstreet , before commanding a Texan division in the Trans - Mississippi Department , known as Walker ’ s Greyhounds for their speed and agility . He was ordered to disrupt Grant ’ s supply - line opposite Vicksburg , but Grant had managed to cross to the East bank , and Walker was reduced to minor operations , one of them against some of the first African - American troops to serve in battle . He was able to make a bigger contribution to the Red River campaign , in support of General Richard Taylor . Early life and military career . Walker was born in Jefferson City , Missouri . He grew up in the Saint Louis , Missouri , area and graduated from the predecessor to Washington University in 1844 . Walker joined the United States Army as a first lieutenant of the Regiment of Mounted Rifles in 1846 , and served with distinction in the Mexican - American War , where he was breveted to captain for San Juan de los Llanos and was wounded at Molino del Rey . He was promoted to the full rank of captain June 1851 . He remained in the Army until July 1861 , when he joined the Confederate States Army as a major in the cavalry . Civil War . Service in the East . Walker was promoted to lieutenant colonel of the 8th Texas Cavalry in August 1861 , where he served in the Department of North Carolina . In September 1861 , he was promoted to colonel . In January 1862 , he was promoted to brigadier general and served in the Peninsula Campaign in the division of Brig . Gen . Theophilus H . Holmes , where he was wounded at Malvern Hill . His division occupied Loudoun Heights , overlooking Harpers Ferry , West Virginia before its garrison surrendered to Stonewall Jackson on September 15 , 1862 . He served under Maj . Gen . James Longstreet at South Mountain and Antietam . Trans - Mississippi . In November 1862 , Walker was promoted to major general and transferred to the Trans - Mississippi Department , where he was given command of 12 Texas regiments , numbering 12 , 000 men , training at Camp Nelson in Arkansas . Walker formed the regiments into a Division , which earned the nickname " Walker ' s Greyhounds " for their ability to move quickly over many miles on foot . From November 1862 until the end of the war , the Greyhounds were formed exclusively of soldiers from Texas , and did not leave the Trans - Mississippi Department . In March 1863 , the new commander of the Trans - Mississippi Department , Lt . Gen . Edmund Kirby - Smith , assigned the Greyhounds to Maj . Gen . Richard Taylor ' s Western Louisiana command , and they were given the task of attacking Maj . Gen . Ulysses S . Grant ' s supply line that ran on the western bank of the Mississippi River on the Louisiana side opposite the besieged Vicksburg , Mississippi . Grant , having recently moved his supply lines to the eastern banks of the Mississippi , was not harmed by the attack of Walker ' s Greyhounds . Hawes ' s Brigade was engaged in combat against the Federals at the Battle of Young ' s Point , and McCullough ' s Brigade fought African - American Union troops at the Battle of Milliken ' s Bend on June 6 , 1863 . This was one of the first times African - American troops engaged in combat . The troops fought bravely , but poorly trained , suffered heavy casualties at the hands of Walker ' s men . The battle became a Union victory when Federal gunboats supported the Union troops , driving McCullough ' s Brigade back . Taylor , who commanded Walker in this campaign , had argued against the venture to his superior Smith . He argued that Walker ' s troops would be better used helping his Army of 4 , 000 attack New Orleans , whose defense had been severely weakened by the movement of Banks ' Army of the Gulf upriver to Port Hudson . After Milliken ' s Bend , Taylor again requested Walker ' s troops to aid in his attack on New Orleans , but Smith again denied the request . Walker spent the balance of the summer fruitlessly patrolling the northeastern area of Louisiana , unable to cross the Mississippi and support the besieged Vicksburg . Walker headed back to Arkansas in late 1863 , but in March 1864 , joined Taylor once again in Alexandria to help Taylor defend against the advances of Nathaniel P . Banks and his Army of the Gulf in the Red River Campaign . Walker ' s troops played a critical role in the Confederate victory at the Battle of Mansfield on April 8 , 1864 . Rather than leave Walker ' s Greyhounds with Taylor as he sought to capture the retreating Banks , Smith sent Walker north to fight Union General Frederick Steele . Walker engaged Steele at the Battle of Jenkins ' Ferry on April 30 , 1864 , about 30 miles south of Little Rock , Arkansas . As Steele fled northward after the battle , clearly not intending to join Banks in his attempt to capture Shreveport , Louisiana , Walker reversed course and headed back south to join Taylor ' s pursuit of Banks . He arrived in Alexandria on May 23 , 1864 , the same day that Banks ' s retreating Army was being picked up by Federal troop transports at Simmesport . District of Western Louisiana . When Taylor was given command of the Department of Alabama , Mississippi , and Eastern Louisiana in August 1864 , Walker was given command of his former superior ' s District of Western Louisiana . By the end of the war , he had been transferred further west , and commanded the District of Texas , New Mexico , and Arizona . Postbellum career . At the close of the Civil War , Walker fled to Mexico , where he remained for several years . Returning to the United States , he later served as the United States Consul in Bogotá , Colombia , and as a Special Commissioner to the Pan - American Convention . Walker died in Washington , D . C . He is buried in the Stonewall Jackson Cemetery , Winchester , Virginia .