Joseph Knox Walker

Joseph Knox Walker (July 19, 1818 – August 21, 1863) was an American politician and officer in the Confederate Army.

Walker was born on July 19, 1818, in Columbia, Tennessee. He was the son of James Walker, of Columbia, Tennessee, a nephew of President James K. Polk and a brother of Lucius Marshall Walker. He graduated from Yale College in 1838.

In March, 1845, he became Private Secretary of President Polk and the signer of land-warrants. In 1858, he was a member of the Tennessee Senate.

Soon after the beginning of the American Civil War of 1861-1865, he entered the Confederate States Army and became Colonel of the 2nd Tennessee Infantry Regiment. Exposure in camp, at Columbus, Kentucky, and afterwards in the vicinity of Corinth and Shiloh, impaired his health so seriously that he was compelled to resign his command. The Union Army general commanding the department permitted him to return home to Memphis, Tennessee, on a parole of honor. There his strength gradually declined until his death.

He died at the residence of his brother-in-law, Mr. Wm. S. Pickett, August 21, 1863, aged about 46 years.

 This article incorporates public domain material from theYale Obituary Record.