Walter C. Whitaker

Infobox Military Person
name= Walter Chiles Whitaker
born= birth date|1823|08|08
died= death date and age|1887|07|09|1823|08|08
placeofbirth= Shelbyville, Kentucky
placeofdeath= Lyndon, Kentucky
placeofburial= Grove Hill Cemetery, Shelbyville


caption= Walter Chiles Whitaker
allegiance= United States of America
branch=
serviceyears=1847–48, 1861–65
rank= Brev. Major General
commands=
unit=
battles= Mexican–American War American Civil War

Walter Chiles Whitaker (August 8, 1823 – July 9, 1887) was an American Army officer who served during the Mexican–American War and as a Union general during the American Civil War.

Early life and career

Whitaker was born in the city of Shelbyville, located in Shelby County, Kentucky. He attended Bethany College in modern day West Virginia.Eicher, p. 565.]

In 1847 Whitaker volunteered for service during the Mexican–American War and was commissioned a second lieutenant in the 6th Kentucky Infantry Regiment beginning on October 1. He served until July 21, 1848, when he was mustered out of the volunteers.

After Mexico, Whitaker returned to home to Kentucky, where he took up farming and then became a lawyer. Later he was elected as a legislator to the Kentucky General Assembly, serving until the American Civil War was underway.

Civil War service

In late 1861 Whitaker chose to follow the Union cause and re-entered the U.S. Army. He was appointed the colonel of his old regiment, the 6th Kentucky, on December 24. The 6th fought at the Battle of Stones River in 1862, and Whitaker was wounded in his left elbow during the battle's first day on December 31.

Whitaker was promoted to brigadier general on June 25, 1863, and given brigade command in the Army of the Cumberland that August. He fought at the Union defense at the Battle of Chickamauga that fall as part of Brig. Gen. Gordon Granger's Reserve Corps, and was again wounded, hit in his abdomen on September 20. He continued to serve in Army of the Cumberland, fighting at the Third Battle of Chattanooga on November 23 and was once more wounded in action during the fight.

Whitaker and his brigade then fought during the Atlanta Campaign of 1864. He participated in the inconclusive Battle of Resaca that spring, and received his last Civil War wound there when he was injured by the concussion of an artillery shell which exploded nearby on May 15. He recovered by that fall and was given divisional command in the Army of the Cumberland beginning on September 19.

On March 13, 1865, Whitaker was brevetted to the rank of major general for his actions near Atlanta, Georgia on that date. He was then mustered out of the Union Army on August 24, after the end of the American Civil War.

Postbellum

Whitaker died at the age of 63 in Lyndon, Kentucky, in the summer of 1887, and was buried in Shelbyville's Grove Hill Cemetery.

References

* Eicher, John H., and Eicher, David J., "Civil War High Commands", Stanford University Press, 2001, ISBN 0-8047-3641-3.

Notes

Persondata
NAME = Whitaker, Walter Chiles
ALTERNATIVE NAMES =
SHORT DESCRIPTION = Union army general
DATE OF BIRTH = August 8, 1823
PLACE OF BIRTH = Shelbyville, Kentucky
DATE OF DEATH = July 9, 1887
PLACE OF DEATH = Lyndon, Kentucky