Walter H. Taylor
Encyclopedia
Walter Herron Taylor was an American banker, lawyer
, soldier
, politician
, author
, and railroad executive from Norfolk, Virginia
. During the American Civil War
, he was an officer in the Confederate States Army
, attaining the rank of lieutenant colonel
as an aide to General Robert E. Lee
. He was later a Senator in the Virginia General Assembly
, and attorney for the Norfolk and Western Railway
and later the Virginian Railway
.
. He was the son of Walter H. Taylor Sr. and Cornelia Wickham Cowdery, and was a descendant of Adam Thoroughgood
and his wife Sarah. Throughgood (1604–1640) was an early leader and is widely credited for the naming of various forms of Norfolk County
and the Lynnhaven River
in the earliest colonial days of the 17th century. Walter graduated from Virginia Military Institute
(VMI) at Lexington, Virginia
in 1857. He became a merchant and banker in Norfolk.
During the American Civil War
(1861–1865), Taylor joined the Confederate States Army
on the secession of Virginia in 1861 and joined the staff of General Robert E. Lee
. When General Lee assumed command of the Army of Northern Virginia
in June 1862, during the Peninsula Campaign
, Taylor became assistant adjutant general
of that army.
Taylor was no ordinary staff officer, but an exceedingly capable and tireless worker with many responsibilities. He was effectively the Chief Aide-de-camp
to General Lee throughout the war. And since Lee was noted for his small, over-worked staff, Taylor carried an enormous burden on his young shoulders. He wrote dispatches and orders for Lee, performed personal reconnaissance, and often carried messages in person to corps
and division
commanders. (The famous "if practicable" order from Lee to Richard S. Ewell
below Cemetery Hill
in the Battle of Gettysburg
was verbally transmitted by Taylor.) He greeted all persons who came to see Lee, and usually decided whether they would be announced to the General. Taylor eventually attained a rank almost commensurate with his great staff responsibilities, being promoted to lieutenant colonel on December 12, 1863. (In postbellum writings, he is generally referred to as colonel, but this is a customary abbreviated title for addressing a lieutenant colonel.)
Taylor's fiancée was Elizabeth Selden "Bettie" Saunders, daughter of United States Navy Captain John L. Saunders and Mrs. Martha Bland Selden Saunders. Miss Saunders lived during the war with the family of Lewis D. Crenshaw in Richmond, Virginia
where she worked in the Confederate Mint and for the Surgeon General in the Confederate Medical Department.
In the last few days of the Siege of Petersburg
, as it became clear to Lee and his staff that Petersburg
was lost and Richmond should be evacuated, 26 year-old Taylor received special permission from General Lee to go to Richmond to give Miss Saunders "the protection of his name." He sent a messenger ahead to Richmond to advise his bride-to-be and have her make arrangements with Reverend Dr. Charles Minnigerode, the rector of St. Paul's Episcopal Church.
After midnight, in the wee hours of April 3, 1865, while the evacuating Confederates fired the city and looters ran wild in its streets, Taylor and Miss Saunders were married in the parlor of the Crenshaw house. 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.
, where he served as a State Senator from 1869 until 1873. He was president of the Marine Bank, and served on the Board of Directors of the Norfolk and Western Railway
.
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, and was met by Colonel Taylor. His former aide escorted him through the waiting crowds to ride to Norfolk on the Elizabeth River
ferry. He died less than five months later.
Taylor devoted a considerable portion of his postwar years to settling controversies related to the Army of Northern Virginia. He was recognized by former generals from both sides of the war as an unofficial court of last resorts in settling disputes about their wartime reputations. Col. Taylor was petitioned by so many of the war's generals for so much information, he decided to write a book to set the record straight. He asked for permission from the U.S. government to view the national archives related to the Army of the Potomac and was the first man ever granted such a privilege. In 1877, he wrote a book, Four Years with General Lee, which was the source for dozens of anecdotes about Lee. This book, heavily documented by the records from the National Archives, read more like a situation report than a novel so it was not widely popular at the time. Many of the former Confederate generals, General James Longstreet
in particular, claimed that if Col. Taylor ever wrote another book about the war, they hoped he would tell the "rest of the story." Col. Taylor wrote another book, published in 1906, Robert E. Lee, His Campaign in Virginia, 1861-1865. This book had the same statistical information as his previous work, but it read more like a novel, and was thus an instant best seller.
Late in the 19th century, Taylor was active in the development of the Ocean View area, located along the south shore of the Chesapeake Bay
in Norfolk County
. The project had been surveyed and laid out before the American Civil War by William Mahone
, who also later served under General Lee. Served by a narrow gauge railroad from Norfolk, which operated a steam locomotive
named the "Walter H. Taylor", Ocean View blossomed as both a popular resort area and grew to become a streetcar suburb
of the City of Norfolk, which annexed the area in 1923.
In April 1907, while Taylor was the attorney for the new Virginian Railway
, then under construction, he met the founder, millionaire
industrialist Henry Huttleston Rogers
and humorist Mark Twain
when they arrived in Hampton Roads
aboard Rogers' steam yacht Kanawha
. They were in Norfolk to attend the opening ceremonies of the Jamestown Exposition
held at Sewell's Point
. According to published newspaper reports of the day, Twain drove off with Taylor in an "infernal machine," better known in modern times as an automobile.
Walter Herron Taylor died of cancer on March 1, 1916. He is buried in Elmwood Cemetery in Norfolk. Walter H. Taylor Elementary School of the Norfolk City Public Schools is named in his honor.
and Gettysburg.
Lawyer
A lawyer, according to Black's Law Dictionary, is "a person learned in the law; as an attorney, counsel or solicitor; a person who is practicing law." Law is the system of rules of conduct established by the sovereign government of a society to correct wrongs, maintain the stability of political...
, soldier
Soldier
A soldier is a member of the land component of national armed forces; whereas a soldier hired for service in a foreign army would be termed a mercenary...
, politician
Politician
A politician, political leader, or political figure is an individual who is involved in influencing public policy and decision making...
, author
Author
An author is broadly defined as "the person who originates or gives existence to anything" and that authorship determines responsibility for what is created. Narrowly defined, an author is the originator of any written work.-Legal significance:...
, and railroad executive from Norfolk, Virginia
Norfolk, Virginia
Norfolk is an independent city in the Commonwealth of Virginia in the United States. With a population of 242,803 as of the 2010 Census, it is Virginia's second-largest city behind neighboring Virginia Beach....
. During the American Civil War
American Civil War
The American Civil War was a civil war fought in the United States of America. In response to the election of Abraham Lincoln as President of the United States, 11 southern slave states declared their secession from the United States and formed the Confederate States of America ; the other 25...
, he was an officer in the Confederate States Army
Confederate States Army
The Confederate States Army was the army of the Confederate States of America while the Confederacy existed during the American Civil War. On February 8, 1861, delegates from the seven Deep South states which had already declared their secession from the United States of America adopted the...
, attaining the rank of lieutenant colonel
Lieutenant Colonel (United States)
In the United States Army, United States Air Force, and United States Marine Corps, a lieutenant colonel is a field grade military officer rank just above the rank of major and just below the rank of colonel. It is equivalent to the naval rank of commander in the other uniformed services.The pay...
as an aide to General Robert E. Lee
Robert E. Lee
Robert Edward Lee was a career military officer who is best known for having commanded the Confederate Army of Northern Virginia in the American Civil War....
. He was later a Senator in the Virginia General Assembly
Virginia General Assembly
The Virginia General Assembly is the legislative body of the Commonwealth of Virginia, and the oldest legislative body in the Western Hemisphere, established on July 30, 1619. The General Assembly is a bicameral body consisting of a lower house, the Virginia House of Delegates, with 100 members,...
, and attorney for the Norfolk and Western Railway
Norfolk and Western Railway
The Norfolk and Western Railway , a US class I railroad, was formed by more than 200 railroad mergers between 1838 and 1982. It had headquarters in Roanoke, Virginia for most of its 150 year existence....
and later the Virginian Railway
Virginian Railway
The Virginian Railway was a Class I railroad located in Virginia and West Virginia in the United States. The VGN was created to transport high quality "smokeless" bituminous coal from southern West Virginia to port at Hampton Roads....
.
Early life
Taylor was born on June 13, 1838, in Norfolk, VirginiaNorfolk, Virginia
Norfolk is an independent city in the Commonwealth of Virginia in the United States. With a population of 242,803 as of the 2010 Census, it is Virginia's second-largest city behind neighboring Virginia Beach....
. He was the son of Walter H. Taylor Sr. and Cornelia Wickham Cowdery, and was a descendant of Adam Thoroughgood
Adam Thoroughgood
Adam Thoroughgood was a colonist and community leader in the Virginia Colony who helped settle the area of South Hampton Roads known in contemporary times as the independent city of Virginia Beach, Virginia....
and his wife Sarah. Throughgood (1604–1640) was an early leader and is widely credited for the naming of various forms of Norfolk County
Norfolk County, Virginia
Norfolk County was a county of the South Hampton Roads in eastern Virginia in the United States that was created in 1691. After the American Civil War, for a period of about 100 years, portions of Norfolk County were lost and the territory of the county reduced as they became parts of the separate...
and the Lynnhaven River
Lynnhaven River
The Lynnhaven River is a tidal estuary located in the independent city of Virginia Beach, Virginia, in the United States, and flows into the Chesapeake Bay west of Cape Henry at Lynnhaven Inlet, beyond which is Lynnhaven Roads. It has a small, developed watershed covering , terminating at Lynnhaven...
in the earliest colonial days of the 17th century. Walter graduated from Virginia Military Institute
Virginia Military Institute
The Virginia Military Institute , located in Lexington, Virginia, is the oldest state-supported military college and one of six senior military colleges in the United States. Unlike any other military college in the United States—and in keeping with its founding principles—all VMI students are...
(VMI) at Lexington, Virginia
Lexington, Virginia
Lexington is an independent city within the confines of Rockbridge County in the Commonwealth of Virginia. The population was 7,042 in 2010. Lexington is about 55 minutes east of the West Virginia border and is about 50 miles north of Roanoke, Virginia. It was first settled in 1777.It is home to...
in 1857. He became a merchant and banker in Norfolk.
American Civil War
American Civil War
The American Civil War was a civil war fought in the United States of America. In response to the election of Abraham Lincoln as President of the United States, 11 southern slave states declared their secession from the United States and formed the Confederate States of America ; the other 25...
(1861–1865), Taylor joined the Confederate States Army
Confederate States Army
The Confederate States Army was the army of the Confederate States of America while the Confederacy existed during the American Civil War. On February 8, 1861, delegates from the seven Deep South states which had already declared their secession from the United States of America adopted the...
on the secession of Virginia in 1861 and joined the staff of General Robert E. Lee
Robert E. Lee
Robert Edward Lee was a career military officer who is best known for having commanded the Confederate Army of Northern Virginia in the American Civil War....
. When General Lee assumed command of the Army of Northern Virginia
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, as well as the primary command structure of the Department of Northern Virginia. It was most often arrayed against the Union Army of the Potomac...
in June 1862, during the Peninsula Campaign
Peninsula Campaign
The Peninsula Campaign of the American Civil War was a major Union operation launched in southeastern Virginia from March through July 1862, the first large-scale offensive in the Eastern Theater. The operation, commanded by Maj. Gen. George B...
, Taylor became assistant adjutant general
Adjutant general
An Adjutant General is a military chief administrative officer.-Imperial Russia:In Imperial Russia, the General-Adjutant was a Court officer, who was usually an army general. He served as a personal aide to the Tsar and hence was a member of the H. I. M. Retinue...
of that army.
Taylor was no ordinary staff officer, but an exceedingly capable and tireless worker with many responsibilities. He was effectively the Chief Aide-de-camp
Aide-de-camp
An aide-de-camp is a personal assistant, secretary, or adjutant to a person of high rank, usually a senior military officer or a head of state...
to General Lee throughout the war. And since Lee was noted for his small, over-worked staff, Taylor carried an enormous burden on his young shoulders. He wrote dispatches and orders for Lee, performed personal reconnaissance, and often carried messages in person to corps
Corps
A corps is either a large formation, or an administrative grouping of troops within an armed force with a common function such as Artillery or Signals representing an arm of service...
and division
Division (military)
A division is a large military unit or formation usually consisting of between 10,000 and 20,000 soldiers. In most armies, a division is composed of several regiments or brigades, and in turn several divisions typically make up a corps...
commanders. (The famous "if practicable" order from Lee to Richard S. Ewell
Richard S. Ewell
Richard Stoddert Ewell was a career United States Army officer and a Confederate general during the American Civil War. He achieved fame as a senior commander under Stonewall Jackson and Robert E...
below Cemetery Hill
Cemetery Hill
Cemetery Hill is a Gettysburg Battlefield landform which had 1863 military engagements each day of the July 1–3 Battle of Gettysburg. The northernmost part of the Army of the Potomac defensive "fish-hook" line, the hill is gently sloped and provided a site for American Civil War artillery...
in the Battle of Gettysburg
Battle of Gettysburg
The Battle of Gettysburg , was fought July 1–3, 1863, in and around the town of Gettysburg, Pennsylvania. The battle with the largest number of casualties in the American Civil War, it is often described as the war's turning point. Union Maj. Gen. George Gordon Meade's Army of the Potomac...
was verbally transmitted by Taylor.) He greeted all persons who came to see Lee, and usually decided whether they would be announced to the General. Taylor eventually attained a rank almost commensurate with his great staff responsibilities, being promoted to lieutenant colonel on December 12, 1863. (In postbellum writings, he is generally referred to as colonel, but this is a customary abbreviated title for addressing a lieutenant colonel.)
Taylor's fiancée was Elizabeth Selden "Bettie" Saunders, daughter of United States Navy Captain John L. Saunders and Mrs. Martha Bland Selden Saunders. Miss Saunders lived during the war with the family of Lewis D. Crenshaw in Richmond, Virginia
Richmond, Virginia
Richmond is the capital of the Commonwealth of Virginia, in the United States. It is an independent city and not part of any county. Richmond is the center of the Richmond Metropolitan Statistical Area and the Greater Richmond area...
where she worked in the Confederate Mint and for the Surgeon General in the Confederate Medical Department.
In the last few days of the Siege of Petersburg
Siege of Petersburg
The Richmond–Petersburg Campaign was a series of battles around Petersburg, Virginia, fought from June 9, 1864, to March 25, 1865, during the American Civil War...
, as it became clear to Lee and his staff that Petersburg
Petersburg, Virginia
Petersburg is an independent city in Virginia, United States located on the Appomattox River and south of the state capital city of Richmond. The city's population was 32,420 as of 2010, predominantly of African-American ethnicity...
was lost and Richmond should be evacuated, 26 year-old Taylor received special permission from General Lee to go to Richmond to give Miss Saunders "the protection of his name." He sent a messenger ahead to Richmond to advise his bride-to-be and have her make arrangements with Reverend Dr. Charles Minnigerode, the rector of St. Paul's Episcopal Church.
After midnight, in the wee hours of April 3, 1865, while the evacuating Confederates fired the city and looters ran wild in its streets, Taylor and Miss Saunders were married in the parlor of the Crenshaw house. 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.
After the war
After the war, Taylor resumed the banking business at Norfolk, Virginia, and also worked as an attorney. He held municipal offices and was elected to the Virginia General AssemblyVirginia General Assembly
The Virginia General Assembly is the legislative body of the Commonwealth of Virginia, and the oldest legislative body in the Western Hemisphere, established on July 30, 1619. The General Assembly is a bicameral body consisting of a lower house, the Virginia House of Delegates, with 100 members,...
, where he served as a State Senator from 1869 until 1873. He was president of the Marine Bank, and served on the Board of Directors of the Norfolk and Western Railway
Norfolk and Western Railway
The Norfolk and Western Railway , a US class I railroad, was formed by more than 200 railroad mergers between 1838 and 1982. It had headquarters in Roanoke, Virginia for most of its 150 year existence....
.
On April 30, 1870, General Lee paid his last visit to the Norfolk area, accompanied by his daughter, Agnes Lee. He arrived in Portsmouth
Portsmouth, Virginia
Portsmouth is located in the Hampton Roads metropolitan area of the U.S. Commonwealth of Virginia. As of 2010, the city had a total population of 95,535.The Norfolk Naval Shipyard, often called the Norfolk Navy Yard, is a historic and active U.S...
via railroad from North Carolina, and was met by Colonel Taylor. His former aide escorted him through the waiting crowds to ride to Norfolk on the Elizabeth River
Elizabeth River (Virginia)
The Elizabeth River is a tidal estuary forming an arm of Hampton Roads harbor at the southern end of Chesapeake Bay in southeast Virginia in the United States. It is located along the southern side of the mouth of the James River, between the cities of Portsmouth and Norfolk...
ferry. He died less than five months later.
Taylor devoted a considerable portion of his postwar years to settling controversies related to the Army of Northern Virginia. He was recognized by former generals from both sides of the war as an unofficial court of last resorts in settling disputes about their wartime reputations. Col. Taylor was petitioned by so many of the war's generals for so much information, he decided to write a book to set the record straight. He asked for permission from the U.S. government to view the national archives related to the Army of the Potomac and was the first man ever granted such a privilege. In 1877, he wrote a book, Four Years with General Lee, which was the source for dozens of anecdotes about Lee. This book, heavily documented by the records from the National Archives, read more like a situation report than a novel so it was not widely popular at the time. Many of the former Confederate generals, General James Longstreet
James Longstreet
James Longstreet was one of the foremost Confederate generals of the American Civil War and the principal subordinate to General Robert E. Lee, who called him his "Old War Horse." He served under Lee as a corps commander for many of the famous battles fought by the Army of Northern Virginia in the...
in particular, claimed that if Col. Taylor ever wrote another book about the war, they hoped he would tell the "rest of the story." Col. Taylor wrote another book, published in 1906, Robert E. Lee, His Campaign in Virginia, 1861-1865. This book had the same statistical information as his previous work, but it read more like a novel, and was thus an instant best seller.
Late in the 19th century, Taylor was active in the development of the Ocean View area, located along the south shore of the Chesapeake Bay
Chesapeake Bay
The Chesapeake Bay is the largest estuary in the United States. It lies off the Atlantic Ocean, surrounded by Maryland and Virginia. The Chesapeake Bay's drainage basin covers in the District of Columbia and parts of six states: New York, Pennsylvania, Delaware, Maryland, Virginia, and West...
in Norfolk County
Norfolk County, Virginia
Norfolk County was a county of the South Hampton Roads in eastern Virginia in the United States that was created in 1691. After the American Civil War, for a period of about 100 years, portions of Norfolk County were lost and the territory of the county reduced as they became parts of the separate...
. The project had been surveyed and laid out before the American Civil War by William Mahone
William Mahone
William Mahone was a civil engineer, teacher, soldier, railroad executive, and a member of the Virginia General Assembly and U.S. Congress. Small of stature, he was nicknamed "Little Billy"....
, who also later served under General Lee. Served by a narrow gauge railroad from Norfolk, which operated a steam locomotive
Steam locomotive
A steam locomotive is a railway locomotive that produces its power through a steam engine. These locomotives are fueled by burning some combustible material, usually coal, wood or oil, to produce steam in a boiler, which drives the steam engine...
named the "Walter H. Taylor", Ocean View blossomed as both a popular resort area and grew to become a streetcar suburb
Streetcar suburb
A streetcar suburb is a residential community whose growth and development was strongly shaped by the use of streetcar lines as a primary means of transportation. Early suburbs were served by horsecars, but by the late 19th century cable cars and electric streetcars, or trams, were used, allowing...
of the City of Norfolk, which annexed the area in 1923.
In April 1907, while Taylor was the attorney for the new Virginian Railway
Virginian Railway
The Virginian Railway was a Class I railroad located in Virginia and West Virginia in the United States. The VGN was created to transport high quality "smokeless" bituminous coal from southern West Virginia to port at Hampton Roads....
, then under construction, he met the founder, millionaire
Millionaire
A millionaire is an individual whose net worth or wealth is equal to or exceeds one million units of currency. It can also be a person who owns one million units of currency in a bank account or savings account...
industrialist Henry Huttleston Rogers
Henry H. Rogers
Henry Huttleston Rogers was a United States capitalist, businessman, industrialist, financier, and philanthropist. He made his fortune in the oil refinery business, becoming a leader at Standard Oil....
and humorist Mark Twain
Mark Twain
Samuel Langhorne Clemens , better known by his pen name Mark Twain, was an American author and humorist...
when they arrived in Hampton Roads
Hampton Roads
Hampton Roads is the name for both a body of water and the Norfolk–Virginia Beach metropolitan area which surrounds it in southeastern Virginia, United States...
aboard Rogers' steam yacht Kanawha
Kanawha (1899)
Kanawha was a 471-ton steam-powered luxury yacht initially built in 1899 for millionaire industrialist and financier Henry Huttleston Rogers . One of the key men in the Standard Oil Trust, Rogers was one of the last of the robber barons of the Gilded Age in the United States...
. They were in Norfolk to attend the opening ceremonies of the Jamestown Exposition
Jamestown Exposition
The Jamestown Exposition was one of the many world's fairs and expositions that were popular in the United States in the early part of the 20th century...
held at Sewell's Point
Sewell's Point
Sewells Point is a peninsula of land in the independent city of Norfolk, Virginia in the United States, located at the mouth of the salt-water port of Hampton Roads. Sewells Point is bordered by water on three sides, with Willoughby Bay to the north, Hampton Roads to the west, and the Lafayette...
. According to published newspaper reports of the day, Twain drove off with Taylor in an "infernal machine," better known in modern times as an automobile.
Walter Herron Taylor died of cancer on March 1, 1916. He is buried in Elmwood Cemetery in Norfolk. Walter H. Taylor Elementary School of the Norfolk City Public Schools is named in his honor.
In popular media
Taylor is portrayed by Bo Brinkman in the films Gods and GeneralsGods and Generals (film)
Gods and Generals is a 2003 American film based on the novel Gods and Generals by Jeffrey Shaara. It depicts events that take place prior to those shown in the 1993 film Gettysburg, which was based on The Killer Angels, a novel by Shaara's father, Michael...
and Gettysburg.