William Walter
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“William Walter” is the story of William Walter Hendrick who mustered into the Confederate Calvary at age 16 in 1862. Was he ready for life as a soldier during the American Civil War? Just learning the meaning of bugle, fife, and drum sounds was a challenge for him. Knowing how to march didn’t come easy. Once he learned, he never marched far from his home in the Hanging Moss area of Jackson, Mississippi, to serve in lesser battles before getting into the Siege of Vicksburg. As life went, he and other Confederate soldiers were exposed to repeated heavy artillery attacks in the hills of Vicksburg. Since Union forces had surrounded Vicksburg, food was running out for civilians and soldiers. People were eating horses, dogs, rats, and other food they could scrounge up. Confederate General Pemberton figured out a way to surrender the Confederate forces to Union General Grant. The surrender was accepted. Though William Walker was now a prisoner of war, the Union forces devised a way to not retain soldiers the surrendered soldiers after they signed a statement that they would never take up arms against the United States of America. William Walter went along and signed and was soon home in Hanging Moss with his mother, daddy, and eleven siblings. As a young soldier whose mental capacity was not fully developed, he apparently experienced mental damage during his time of enlistment. After his time in the service, he had good years and those that were not so good. He was admitted to the State insane asylum three times in the 1890s. He was finally released in 1899 when his son indicating that the he would take responsibility to oversee his well-being. But, that didn’t work out successfully for William Walter. Such a sad ending to his life!
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About the Book
William Walter is the factual story of a young man who entered the Confederate States of America military at age sixteen to defend against the encroaching Union Military and destruction of the Southern way of life. He had a lot to learn in the military! Even his ancestral heritage in North Carolina before his father migrated to Mississippi provides an interesting story to go along with his capture by Union forces in the Siege of Vicksburg. His work as a Bloodhound manager for law enforcement in the local Jackson, Mississippi, area brought him fame. His marriage after Confederate service brought some good times and some that weren’t so good. Of course, his sad demise with mental illness, time in an insane asylum, and a sudden ending to his life cap off William Walter Hendrick’s life story.
About the Author
Jasper S. Lee grew up on a Mississippi cotton plantation in a genuine southern community that was continuing to heal from the American Civil War. He has college degrees from Mississippi State University and the University of Illinois. He has served as a university professor and department head as well as an editorial consultant with an agricultural textbook publisher, where he was known as a “word-smith.” This is Lee’s fifth family history book, with two of the previous books being “Tinnin” and “Cousin.” As always, much genealogy study went into the preparation of this book as it did in previous books.