Both Edward
Walker, Jr., and his brother Joseph
are known to have served in the War of 1812, and their
brother William may have as well, although his service
has not yet been proven.
The oldest sons of Edward
B. Walker grew up just as the young nation itself
started to grow up, and international events were developing
that would draw the country into another war with Great
Britain. Ned was eight when Thomas Jefferson's administration
made the Louisiana Purchase in 1803 from Napoleon Bonaparte,
who by then was emperor of France. Shortly thereafter,
Napoleon provoked a war with Great Britain.
The United States was neutral at first and enjoyed
the benefits of being the largest neutral shipping country.
But in 1805, after the Battle of Trafalgar, Britain
regained unchallenged control of the seas. Starting
in 1806, Britain declared, though Orders of Council,
that all ports controlled by the French were to be closed
to all foreign shipping unless those ships first stopped
at British ports; at those ports, the foreign ships,
including American ones, would have to pay fees and
obtain any necessary papers to continue on to their
final ports. Napoleon responded by ordering that all
ships entering British ports be seized.
American shipping interests and exporters were extremely
concerned about the situation, but shipping was primarily
an issue in the northern states. Southern farmers such
as the Walkers exported nothing and would not have been
affected directly.
But all Americans were concerned about the British
practice of impressment; under British law, sailors
could be kidnapped and forced to serve in the British
Navy. While the official rules mandated that the impressed
men be British subjects, thus excepting Americans by
policy, impressment officials seldom worried about the
nationality of the sailors they kidnapped. In fact,
they often had stretchers to carry the men that they
would knock unconscious with clubs before taking them
to a ship. All told, about 6,000 American sailors were
forced into service by Britain between 1808 and 1811,
and many were killed or wounded. The American public
was quite outraged at the practice.
These and other incidents on the high seas led Jefferson
to ask Congress to pass the Embargo Act of 1807, which
prohibited the export of all goods from the United States
to any foreign country. This act affected northern interests
far more than our southern ancestors who did not ship
their goods overseas, but public outcry was so loud
that Jefferson was actually worried that his government
would not survive. The Embargo Act was repealed in early
1809 and replaced with the Non-Intercourse Act, which
allowed the United States to trade with all countries
except Britain and France. With that act set to expire
in 1810, Congress passed Macon's Bill No. 2, which stipulated
that if either Britain or France ended their shipping
restrictions, the embargo would be reinstated against
the country that continued its restrictions.
These sorts of issues, although sounding perhaps a
bit dry to modern ears, were huge news at the time and
likely were discussed among the older generations and
the Walkers. The war in Europe and its impact on America
constituted the main foreign news of the day, much like
the World Wars would have done before the United States
entered the wars officially.
In November 1810, Napoleon claimed that his decrees
had been repealed, so an American embargo was once again
placed on shipping with Great Britain. Britain felt
the impact of the new embargo so strongly that it repealed
its Orders in Council and allowed and allowed ships
to proceed unmolested to French ports. However, two
days later, the United States Congress declared War
on Great Britain. Congress would not have had time to
know about the repeal, and, given the atmosphere in
Congress, the repeal would not have mattered.
The country was divided among those who wanted war
with Britain, those who wanted war with France, and
those who wanted no war. More Americans were of British
heritage than French, and Napoleon was a dangerous aggressor
in Europe, but many people still felt the sting of the
Revolution and also had a special fondness for France
because of France's help in the Revolution. A new Congress
took power in 1811, and the cries for war grew louder.
In a divided vote, Congress declared war on Great Britain
on 18 June 1812; Tennessee's three congressmen in the
House of Representatives all voted for war; the people
in the West, which included Tennessee at the time, generally
supported the war more than the merchants of New England,
who had more to lose economically.
Although Tennessee gained its nickname as The Volunteer
State during this war because of a large number of volunteers
when war was declared, the vast majority of the men
who served from Tennessee were drafted. Two months after
the British Army burned Washington in August 1814 and
a month after Frances Scott Key wrote the words to what
would become the national anthem, both Ned and Joseph
Walker were drafted to serve in the war. Ned was probably
living on Bays Mountain in Hawkins County, but Joseph
was drafted in Sullivan County
Both men served the same term, 13 November 1814 to
2 June 1815, with Ned serving under Captain
John Slatton, Colonel Edwin Booth, in the Fifth
Regiment of the East Tennessee militia. The Fifth Regiment
was a division of the troops commanded by Major General
William Carroll. Joseph was drafted in Sullivan County
under Captain John Brock, Colonel Samuel Bayless. Although
serving in different units, their experience appears
to have been similar.
Map of key War of 1812
locations; from the Tennessee State Library and
Archives Web site
Despite some claims otherwise, neither Ned's unit nor
Joseph's unit appears to have been at the Battle of
New Orleans under Andrew Jackson. Instead, they organized
at Knoxville and marched to Ross' Landing and over Lookout
Mountain in Chattanooga, to Fort Strother on the Coosa
River in Alabama, and on to Mobile more than 500 miles
away. A summary by the Tennessee State Library and Archives
indicates that the soldiers walked the whole way, but,
as General Carroll was known to carry men south on flat
boats, at least part of the trip downstream may have
been by boat.
The units did arrive in Mobile before the Battle of
New Orleans. But while Andrew Jackson continued to plan
the attack at New Orleans, he still assumed that the
British would attack Mobile, and attacks were also possible
by a faction of Native Americans known as the Red Sticks,
a disaffected band of Creeks. Booth's regiment was left
to protect the various forts around Mobile, and at least
some of the troops probably were stationed at Camp Mandeville
south of Mobile.
No major battles appear to have occurred in the area
where Edward likely was. Whether there were smaller
skirmishes with Native Americans or others is unknown.
Fourteen out of the 104 men of his unit did not serve
the complete term, so they presumably died in some manner
or deserted. However, disease was rampant and usually
killed more in these times than combat itself, and desertions
were also common.
The Battle of New Orleans itself occurred on 8 January
1815. Much has been made of the fact that the Treaty
of Ghent, which ended the war, had been signed the previous
month on 24 December but news of the treaty had not
yet reached the United States. While technically true,
the United States did not actually ratify the treaty
until mid-February, and war continued until then. However,
the battle at New Orleans was the culminating battle.
General Andrew Jackson had under his command some 7,000
regular soldiers, sailors, pirates, and French citizens,
as well as militiamen from Louisiana, Kentucky, and
Tennessee. In that battle, the British army of 8,000
seasoned veterans launched a frontal assault on entrenched
Americans. In about thirty minutes, the British suffered
about 2,000 casualties to the American's 71. This battle
made a hero of Andrew Jackson and helped to later make
him president.
Ned and Joseph most likely were discharged at Mobile
after the war. They received pay for the full term at
that time; for their service as a private, each was
paid $53.33, which equates to $8 a month. Since the
units were drawn from upper East Tennessee, they probably
embarked with a large group of men for the trip home.
Since upstream river travel seems unlikely, they quite
possibly walked all the way home; even at a brisk pace,
they likely did not arrive home until late summer at
the earliest.
