General Walter Washington Williams
Franklin, Robertson County, Texas
Marker Inscription
Reputed to have been last surviving soldier of the Civil War (1861-1865). Born in Ittawamba County, Miss., Williams (Nov. 14, 1842 - Dec. 19, 1959) during the war was a forage master for the celebrated Hood's Texas Brigade. Soon after the war he moved to Texas and farmed near here. He was twice married and had a large family, with the descendants numbering over 200 when he died. He had lived very quietly until in extreme old age he gained fame as one of a very few remaining veterans. After the nation lost all other men who had fought in the Civil War, he was given honorary rank of General by President Dwight D. Eisenhower. When Gen. Williams died in Houston at home of a daughter, President Eisenhower proclaimed a period of national mourning. Williams rests here in Mount Pleasant Cemetery among families who migrated to Texas and braved the dangers of the frontier for years before he came. This is one of the oldest public burial grounds in Robertson County, situated within boundaries of colony planted north of El Camo Real by the pioneer Sterling C. Robertson, from Tennessee. The Robertson colony was founded in the 1820s and was a major civilizing influence in East Texas.
Erected by Texas Historical Commission
The Story
Walter Washington Williams was reputed to be the last surviving soldier of the Civil War, said to have served as a forage master for the celebrated Hood's Texas Brigade. Born in Mississippi in 1842, he moved to Texas soon after the war and farmed near here, living quietly until extreme old age brought him fame as one of the last living veterans. President Dwight D. Eisenhower gave him the honorary rank of general and proclaimed national mourning at his death in 1959. He rests in Mount Pleasant Cemetery, one of the oldest burial grounds in Robertson County, within the colony planted in the 1820s by pioneer Sterling C. Robertson.
Why it matters
Whether or not the claim holds, the nation's mourning for its "last Civil War soldier" shows how powerfully Americans clung to living links with the defining conflict of the nineteenth century.
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Related people
- · Walter Washington Williams
- · Dwight D. Eisenhower
- · Sterling C. Robertson
Related events
- · Civil War
Themes & tags
Nearby & related markers
Robertson County
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Robertson County grew from an 1822 colonization contract held by Sterling Clack Robertson, who recruited settlers from Tennessee and later signed the Texas Declaration of Independence. Created in 1837 and organized in 1838, the county shuffled its seat among a half-dozen towns before settling on Franklin in 1879. During the Civil War it sent five companies into Confederate service and turned its mills toward making cloth, flour, and supplies for soldiers' families.
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