Samuel Walker

Samuel Walker (October 19, 1822 – February 6, 1893) was an American soldier, lawman and politician who settled in Lawrence, Kansas, and served as an officer during Bleeding Kansas and the American Civil War. Early life Walker was born on October 19, 1822, in Franklin County, Pennsylvania. After marrying Marian E. Lowe in 1842, Walker moved to Ohio in 1848, and worked there as a cabinet maker. In 1855 he settled permanently in Lawrence, Kansas. There Walker became a founding member of the Bloomington Guards, a local militia company, in late 1855, and he was quickly elected first sergeant. In the following year Walker was elected colonel of the 4th Kansas Cavalry, which participated in all the campaigns of the free-state men during Bleeding Kansas. In that capacity Walker was present at the sieges of Lawrence and Fort Saunders, and commanded free-state forces on August 16, 1856, at the Battle of Fort Titus, which was a free-state victory. In 1856 Walker served as a member of the short-lived Territorial House of Representatives under the Topeka Constitution, and around the same time he also was a Deputy U.S. Marshal. Walker became the sheriff of Douglas County, Kansas, in October 1857 and served until January 1862. Civil War After the American Civil War began in April 1861, Walker volunteered to fight for the Union, and he was commissioned the captain of Company F, 1st Kansas Volunteer Infantry Regiment on June 1, 1861. In this capacity, Walker commanded the company at the Battle of Wilson's Creek, Missouri on August 10, 1861, where his regiment sustained over 50% casualties. Walker was promoted to a major of the 5th Kansas Volunteer Cavalry Regiment on May 24, 1862, before being promoted lieutenant colonel of the 16th Kansas Volunteer Cavalry Regiment in October 1864. Walker participated in opposing Price's Raid in Missouri and Kansas during the fall of 1864. In the wave of mass promotions by brevet at the war's end, he received brevet promotions to colonel and brigadier general dated to March 13, 1865. The Powder River Expedition