Lucius M. Walker

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Lucius Marshall "Marsh" Walker (October 18, 1829 – September 7, 1863) was a Confederate general during the American Civil War. He was mortally wounded in a duel with fellow general John S. Marmaduke.

Lucius M. Walker was born in Columbia, Tennessee. He was the nephew of President James K. Polk. He graduated from the United States Military Academy in 1850, placing 15th out of a class of 44. He was breveted second lieutenant of dragoons. Walker served on frontier duty and scouted. He was commissioned as a second lieutenant in 1852, shortly before resigning to return to Tennessee, where he established a successful merchantile business.

With the outbreak of the Civil War, Walker was commissioned Colonel of the 40th Tennessee Volunteer Infantry on November 11, 1861. His first assignment was to command the post at Memphis. In 1862, he and his 40th Tennessee were ordered to New Madrid, Missouri to prepare for theBattle of Island Number Ten. He was commissioned brigadier general on March 11, 1862, and was posted at Kentucky Bend with the command of the 40th Tennessee falling to Lieutenant Colonel C. C. Henderson. He retreated in the faced of a much larger Union force, which threatened to capture all of Walker's command. After surrendering at Island #10, he was exchanged and rejoined the army at Corinth, Mississippi, before it retreated to Tupelo. At the May 9, 1862, Battle of Farmington, his brigade attacked and drove a Union force from its entrenchments. He was reassigned to the Trans-Mississippi Department on March 23, 1863, commanding a brigade of cavalry under Lt. Gen. Kirby Smith at the Battle of Helena.

After the Battle of Reed's Bridge on August 26, 1863, Brig. Gen. John S. Marmaduke accused Walker of imperiling Marmaduke's men by being absent from the field in the face of the enemy. Walker, fearing from the indications given that the enemy was about to flank his position, had withdrawn his troops after dark. Believing that he had been unjustly accused of cowardice, he challenged Marmaduke to a formal duel. “I have not pronounced you a coward,” Marmaduke wrote, “but I desire to inform you that your conduct as commander of the cavalry was such that I determined no longer to serve you.” Maj. Gen. Sterling Price ordered both officers to remain in their quarters in an attempt to prevent the duel. However by an unfortunate series of mishaps, the orders were not delivered to Walker. At dawn on Sunday, September 6, he and Marmaduke squared off with Colt Navy revolvers on the north bank of the Arkansas River near Little Rock. Both fired and missed. Marmaduke recocked and fired again, mortally wounding Walker in the right side, just above the beltline. Walker forgave Marmaduke when the latter offered his assistance.

Marsh Walker died at 5 p.m. the next day and was buried in Elmwood Cemetery in Memphis.

[edit] Sources

• U.S. War Department, The War of the Rebellion: A Compilation of the Official Records of the Union and Confederate Armies, Washington, D.C., 1880-1901, Series I, Vol XXII, Part 1, pages 520-522 and others.