Francis Marion Walker Francis Marion Walker ( November 12 , 1827 – July 22 , 1864 ) was a Confederate States Army colonel during the American Civil War ( Civil War ) . He was killed while commanding a brigade at the Battle of Atlanta of July 22 , 1864 , one day before his commission as a brigadier general in the Confederate Army was delivered . Early life . Francis Marion Walker was born in Paris , Kentucky on November 12 , 1827 . His parents were John and Tabitha ( Taylor ) Walker . Walker ' s mother died while he was young . In 1843 , the Walker family moved to Hawkins County in east Tennessee , where his father was proprietor of a tavern . Walker had a limited formal education but taught school for his own education and to earn money for college tuition . Walker was elected second lieutenant in the 5th Tennessee Infantry Regiment , commanded by his father as colonel , during the Mexican - American War . The unit was sent to Mexico but the war was over before it could be sent into action . Walker graduated with honors from Transylvania University in 1850 . He established a law practice in Rogersville , Tennessee . In 1854 , he moved to Chattanooga , Tennessee and set up a law practice . He was a Chattanooga alderman in 1858 – 1859 and attorney general of the Tennessee Fourth District from 1860 until the start of the Civil War . Walker had a prominent son , Lapsley Greene Walker , a Chattanooga newspaperman who opposed the Ku Klux Klan . American Civil War service . Walker was actually a committed Unionist and made speeches in support of the Union in eastern Tennessee before Tennessee declared its secession from the Union . After Tennessee joined the Confederacy , Walker decided to stay with his State and joined the Confederate cause . He became captain of the " Marsh Blues " of Hamilton County , Tennessee , which became Company I of the 19th Tennessee Infantry Regiment . The company was named for Ed Marsh , a local man who provided uniforms and equipment . Walker was promoted to lieutenant colonel of the regiment on June 11 , 1861 . Walker ' s regiment fought at the Battle of Mill Springs and Battle of Shiloh where both the unit and Walker were praised for bravery . Walker was elected colonel of the 19th Tennessee Infantry on May 8 , 1862 . Thereafter , he led the regiment at the Battle of Stone ' s River , Battle of Chickamauga and in the Chattanooga Campaign . The regiment fought during the Atlanta campaign . Fighting from trenches , they decimated the soldiers of a Union assault at the Battle of Kennesaw Mountain on June 27 , 1864 . Brigade commander , Brigadier General Otho F . Strahl and corps commander , Lieutenant General William J . Hardee repeatedly recommended that Walker be promoted to brigadier general . In June 1864 , Walker was given command of a brigade in Major General Benjamin F . Cheatham ' s division when Brigadier General George Maney was promoted to division command . On July 17 , 1864 , just before the Battle of Peachtree Creek on July 20 , 1864 , Confederate President Jefferson Davis replaced General Joseph E . Johnston as commander of the Army of Tennessee defending Atlanta with the aggressive Lieutenant General , temporary General , John Bell Hood . On July 22 , 1864 , Hood ordered Lieutenant General Hardee to maneuver around the left flank of the Union Army east of Atlanta for a surprise attack while Major General Cheatham , then in command of Hood ' s former corps , was to make a diversionary attack on the front of the Union force and the cavalry commander , Major General Joseph Wheeler , would attack their supply line . The Battle of Atlanta , fought east and south of the city and near the Union supply lines further east at Decatur , Georgia , ensued . During a hard day of fighting after a night march to get into position , Hardee ' s men succeeded in bending back the Union left flank and retaking some breastworks that had been built by the Confederates earlier . Union Major General James B . McPherson , who was killed during the battle , anticipated the Confederate maneuver against the far end of his flank , reshaped his line and sent reinforcements to the flank . By 5 : 00 p . m . , Confederate advances along the Union front had been reversed although the Union force had lost a large part of the left , or southern , part of their line . Still part of the XVII Corps under Major General Francis Preston Blair , Jr . still held a position anchored on Bald Hill . Confederate Major General Patrick Cleburne , operating under Hardee , gathered available forces in the area to make a large assault against the Union position on Bald Hill . Blair meanwhile had thought the Confederate effort had been spent and even suggested in a message to Union Army commander Major General William T . Sherman that with another brigade he could retake the lost ground . Francis M . Walker ' s men , which included his 19th Tennessee Infantry as well as Maney ' s old brigade , had not been engaged that day since they had been marched and countermarched almost back to their original position . Cleburne placed Walker ' s brigade on the left front of the attacking force . The attack was launched with about 3 , 500 men in total , with 2 , 000 more in a second wave , at about 6 : 00 p . m . Cleburne himself led the attack with Walker ' s brigade . The Union force had about half the number of men but they were behind their defenses . Emerging from a stand of woods , Walker ' s men were hard hit and began to retreat before Cleburne and Maney rallied them . Then they moved with a two - sided assault with troops to their right toward the Union line . Despite taking about 100 casualties in their previous advances , Walker ' s men followed Walker , who was waving his sword in encouragement , toward the crest of the hill . As they reached the crest , Walker ' s brigade was hit with a tremendous volley from defenders over the crest . Walker was killed by that volley . He had been appointed a brigadier general the previous day but he had not yet received written notification of his appointment . Walker ' s commission arrived at his headquarters the day after he was killed . After Walker ' s death , many of his men diverted to another point of attack to try to take a Union battery and suffered severe casualties . As night fell , the Confederates could not continue the attack and the Union troops held their fort at the top of the hill . The Confederates had sustained over 600 casualties while the Union defenders had endured about 550 casualties in the Battle of Bald Hill , which was but a small part of the overall Battle of Atlanta . Although Walker could have acted as a brigadier general from the receipt of the commission , he still would not have officially and legally been a brigadier general until after his appointment had been confirmed by the Confederate Senate . The Confederate Senate had not confirmed the appointment as of the date of Walker ' s death . Aftermath . Walker initially was buried in Citizens Cemetery at Griffin , Georgia . His remains were reinterred in a family plot in Forest Hills Cemetery in Chattanooga , Tennessee in 1889 .