Walter H. Taylor
Walter Herron Taylor | |
---|---|
Member of the Virginia Senate from the Norfolk, Virginia district | |
In office 1869–1873 | |
Personal details | |
Born | Norfolk, Virginia, US | June 13, 1838
Died | March 1, 1916 Norfolk, Virginia, US | (aged 77)
Resting place | Elmwood Cemetery, Norfolk, Virginia |
Political party | Conservative |
Alma mater | Virginia Military Institute |
Military service | |
Allegiance | Confederate States |
Branch/service | Confederate States Army |
Years of service | 1861–1865 |
Rank | Colonel |
Commands | Assistant Adjutant General, Army of Northern Virginia |
Battles/wars | American Civil War |
Walter Herron Taylor (June 13, 1838 – March 1, 1916) was an American banker, lawyer, soldier, politician, author, and railroad executive from Norfolk, Virginia. During the American Civil War, he fought with the Confederate States Army, became a key aide to General Robert E. Lee and rose to the rank of Colonel. After the war, Herron became a senator in the Virginia General Assembly, and attorney for the Norfolk and Western Railway and later the Virginian Railway.[1]
Early life
Taylor was born on June 13, 1838, in
Following a local private education suitable for his class, including at Norfolk Academy, and despite his father's death, Walter Taylor went to Lexington, Virginia for higher studies. Walter H. Taylor Sr. probably owned 4 slaves during this Walter's youth.[3] Cadet Taylor graduated from Virginia Military Institute (VMI) in 1857. He became a railroad clerk, and later a banker in Norfolk.[4]
American Civil War
After John Brown's raid on Harpers Ferry in 1859, Taylor joined a local militia company. After Virginia voters approved secession in April 1861 during the early days of the American Civil War, Taylor joined the Confederate States Army, as did others in his militia company and his elder brother, Richard Cornelius Taylor (1835-1917; who would become a Major before the war's end).[5]
Walter Taylor was soon assigned to the staff of General
Ltc. Taylor accompanied General Lee during the surrender at Appomattox Court House. (In postbellum writings, he is generally referred to as "colonel", a customary abbreviated title.)
Personal life
Taylor's fiancée was
In the last few days of the Siege of Petersburg, as Lee and his staff realized that Petersburg was lost and Richmond should be evacuated, General Lee gave the 26-year-old Taylor special permission to go to Richmond to give Miss Saunders "the protection of his name". A messenger sent ahead to Richmond advised his bride-to-be, who made arrangements with Reverend Dr. Charles Minnigerode, the rector of St. Paul's Episcopal Church.
After midnight, in the wee hours of April 3, 1865, just before evacuating Confederates set fire to the city and looters ran wild in its streets, Taylor and Miss Saunders were married in the Crenshaw house parlor. Afterward, Lewis Crenshaw accompanied Taylor as far back toward the Confederate lines as safety permitted. One week after the surrender at Appomattox Court House, Taylor returned to Richmond with General Lee, picked up his bride, and drove her back to Norfolk in a buggy.
They would have at least two daughters and three sons who reached adulthood.
Postwar career
After the war, Taylor resumed his banking career in Norfolk, and also worked as an attorney, particularly for railroads which were rebuilding and consolidating after the war. He quickly received a pardon, then was elected to municipal offices and to the
On April 30, 1870, General Lee paid his last visit to the Norfolk area, accompanied by his daughter, Agnes Lee. He arrived in Portsmouth via railroad from North Carolina. Colonel Taylor met and escorted him through the waiting crowds to Norfolk, then to the Elizabeth River ferry. Lee would die less than five months later. In 1870, Taylor began his first term on the VMI Board of Visitors (serving until 1873); he would again serve on the VMI board from 1914 until his death.
In 1877, Taylor became president of the Marine Bank, where he would remain for 39 years. He later also served on the board of directors of the
In April 1907, while Taylor was the attorney for the new
"Lost Cause" proponent
Taylor devoted a considerable portion of his postwar years to defending General Lee's reputation (which developed into the
Former generals from both sides of the war made Taylor an unofficial
Death and legacy
Walter H. Taylor died of cancer on March 1, 1916.
In popular media
Taylor is a character in the novel "The Killer Angels" (1974) by Michael Shaara, which won the Pulitzer Prize for Fiction in 1975. He is portrayed by Bo Brinkman in the novel's film adaption Gettysburg, and in the prequel Gods and Generals.
Taylor is a character in the following alternate history novels:
- The Guns of the South (1992) by Harry Turtledove
- "Gettysburg: A Novel of the Civil War" (2003), "Grant Comes East" (2004), and "Never Call Retreat" (2005) by Newt Gingrich and William R. Forstchen.
References
- ^ Walter H. Taylor in Encyclopedia Virginia
- ISBN 0595360971.
- ^ 1840 U.S. Federal census for Norfolk, Virginia, either p. 59 ("W." or "N." Taylor owned 4 slaves) or 71 ("W.E. Taylor" owned 9 slaves) of 95
- ^ Virginia Biographical Encyclopedia (1902) at ancestry.com
- ^ "Taylor, Walter H. (1838–1916) – Encyclopedia Virginia".
- ^ Mark Twain and Henry Huttleston Rogers in Virginia
- ^ "Taylor, Walter H. (1838–1916) – Encyclopedia Virginia".
- ^ Miller, John A. "Lee's Famous Staff Officer Walter Taylor Jr". Emmitsburg.net. Archived from the original on July 27, 2008. Retrieved June 28, 2017.
Works by Taylor
Media related to Walter H. Taylor at Wikimedia Commons
Taylor, Walter H., Belmont, John S., Tower, R. Lockwood, Lee's Adjutant: The Wartime Letters of Colonel Walter Herron Taylor, 1862–1865, University of South Carolina Press, 1995,