Joseph Allen Walker was a Confederate colonel who commanded the 5th South Carolina Infantry Regiment and the main colonel of Jenkins' Brigade of the

Army of Northern Virginia The Army of Northern Virginia was the primary military force of the Confederate States of America in the Eastern Theater of the American Civil War. It was also the primary command structure of the Department of Northern Virginia. It was most oft ...

during the

American Civil War The American Civil War (April 12, 1861 – May 26, 1865; also known by other names) was a civil war in the United States. It was fought between the Union ("the North") and the Confederacy ("the South"), the latter formed by states th ...

Biography

Origin

Joseph was born on May 18, 1835, at

Spartanburg, South Carolina Spartanburg is a city in and the county seat, seat of Spartanburg County, South Carolina, United States. The city of Spartanburg has a municipal population of 38,732 as of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, making it the 11th-largest c ...

. His prewar life consisted of being a clerk and a merchant as well as marrying Susan Elizabeth Walker at one point. A few months before the outbreak of the

, Walker raised the Spartan Rifles at Spartanburg and was elected captain of the rifles.

American Civil War

When the American Civil War broke out, the Spartan Rifles were integrated into the 5th South Carolina Infantry Regiment as Company K on April 13, 1861, and Walker would command the company for a year until he was transferred to the Palmetto Sharpshooters where he would be a lieutenant colonel on April 15, 1862. He was then fully promoted to colonel on July 22 of the same year. Walker was then a part of

Robert E. Lee Robert Edward Lee (January 19, 1807 – October 12, 1870) was a Confederate general during the American Civil War, towards the end of which he was appointed the overall commander of the Confederate States Army. He led the Army of Nort ...

Army of the Potomac The Army of the Potomac was the principal Union Army in the Eastern Theater of the American Civil War. It was created in July 1861 shortly after the First Battle of Bull Run and was disbanded in June 1865 following the surrender of the Confedera ...

as the main colonel of

Micah Jenkins Micah Jenkins (December 1, 1835 – May 6, 1864), was a Confederate general in the American Civil War, mortally wounded by friendly fire at the Battle of the Wilderness. Early life Jenkins was born on Edisto Island, South Carolina. He graduat ...

' brigade. Walker would then serve at the

Battle of South Mountain The Battle of South Mountain—known in several early Southern accounts as the Battle of Boonsboro Gap—was fought on September 14, 1862, as part of the Maryland campaign of the American Civil War. Three pitched battles were fought for posses ...

and the

Battle of Antietam The Battle of Antietam (), or Battle of Sharpsburg particularly in the Southern United States, was a battle of the American Civil War fought on September 17, 1862, between Confederate Gen. Robert E. Lee's Army of Northern Virginia and Union G ...

. Parham would then serve as a state representative of South Carolina in 1864 before surrendering around the end of the American Civil War.

Post-War Life

After the war, Walker returned to becoming a merchant until 1875. He would then be in the cotton and fertilizer trade until 1885. After that, he reorganized the Merchants and Farmers Bank and became president of the bank. He would also be Mayor of Spartanburg for around 10 years. Walker died on January 27, 1902, and would be buried on Oakwood Cemetery at Spartanburg.

James L. Kemper James Lawson Kemper (June 11, 1823 – April 7, 1895) was a lawyer, a Confederate general in the American Civil War, and the 37th Governor of Virginia. He was the youngest brigade commander and only non-professional military officer in the div ...

considered Walker to be a "A capital soldier, a good disciplinarian, and peculiarly adapted to command our citizen soldiers."

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Walker, Joseph Allen 1835 births 1902 deaths People of South Carolina in the American Civil War Confederate States Army officers Politicians from Spartanburg, South Carolina 19th-century American merchants