Williams Carter Wickham
Best known as: lawyer, politician, and general
Born: September 21, 1820 in Richmond, Virginia
Died: July 23, 1888 in Richmond, Virginia
Resting place: Hickory Hill Cemetery, Ashland, Virginia
Biography:
Williams Carter Wickham was born in Richmond, Virginia in 1820. His parents were named William and Anne. His paternal grandfather was a noted constitutional lawyer, and his mother was a cousin of Robert E. Lee and was descended from two of the oldest families in Virginia. Williams grew up on his family's plantation, called Hickory Hill, near Richmond. He attended the University of Virginia.
Upon graduation, he began a legal career, passing the bar in 1842. He married Lucy Penn Taylor, with whom he had four children. In 1849, he was elected to the Virginia House of Delegates. In 1959 he was elected to the State Senate and served until 1861. In addition to law and politics, Wickham was also interested in the military. In 1858 he became a captain in the Virginia militia, commanding a cavalry company called the Hanover Dragoons.
As tensions between the North and South reached a boiling point, Wickham opposed secession. In 1861 he was elected a delegate to the Virginia state convention, where he voted against secession. When Virginia seceded, however, he remained loyal to his state. He and the Hanover Dragoons joined the Confederate army and fought in the First Battle of Bull Run in July 1861. Wickham was soon commissioned lieutenant colonel of the Fourth Virginia Cavalry and fought in numerous battles in Virginia over the next few years. At the Battle of Williamsburg in May 1862, he sustained a severe stab wound and was taken prisoner, but he was soon released. Later that year he was promoted to colonel. At the Battle of Antietam in September 1862, he was wounded again, this time when a shell fragment hit his neck. That December, he took part in the Battle of Fredericksburg, and the next year he participated in the battles of Chancellorsville, Brandy Station, and Gettysburg. In September 1863 he was promoted to brigadier general. He and his brigade fought in the Battle of Yellow Tavern in May 1864 and later that year won a victory against Union cavalry at Waynesboro.
In October 1864 Wickham made a career move from the military to the political side of things. He was elected to the Confederate House of Representatives and resigned his commission in the army. In this role, he participated in the Hampton Roads Conference, a peace conference between U.S. and Confederate delegates aboard the steamboat River Queen.
After the war, Wickham began a career in the transportation industry. He served as president of the Virginia Central Railroad and later of the Chesapeake and Ohio Railroad, which was formed by the merger of the Virginia Central and Covington and Ohio Railroads. He also remained active in politics, joining the Republican Party and working for reconciliation between North and South. In 1871 he was elected chairman of the Hanover County Board of Supervisors, and in 1872 he voted for Ulysses Grant as a member of the Electoral College. In 1883 he returned to the State Senate, where he served until his death.
In 1888, Wickham died of heart failure at his office in Richmond.
Fun facts:
- His great-grandfather, General Thomas Nelson, signed the Declaration of Independence
- The last order that Jeb Stuart ever gave was to Wickham, instructing him and his brigade to dismount and attack
Pictures:
Wickham during the Civil War
An older Wickham after the war