LeRoy Walker
1stConfederate States Secretary of War
In office February 25, 1861 – September 16, 1861
President	Jefferson Davis
Preceded by	Position established
Succeeded by	Judah Benjamin
Personal details
Born	(1817-02-07)February 7, 1817 Huntsville, Alabama, U.S.
Died	August 23, 1884(1884-08-23) (aged 67) Huntsville, Alabama, U.S.
Political party	Democratic
Alma mater	University of Alabama, Tuscaloosa University of Virginia
Military service
Allegiance	Confederate States
Branch/service	Confederate States Army
Years of service	1861–1862, 1864–1865
Rank	Brigadier general
Battles/wars	American Civil War

LeRoy Pope Walker (February 7, 1817 – August 23, 1884) was the firstConfederate States Secretary of War.

Walker was born nearHuntsville, Alabama in 1817, the son ofJohn Williams Walker and Matilda Pope, and a grandson ofLeRoy Pope. Private tutors educated him, then he attended theUniversity of Alabama and theUniversity of Virginia. Before reaching the age of 21, he was admitted to the bar. He married Eliza Dickson Pickett on July 29, 1850. He held various offices in Alabama; in 1853, he resigned his position as a circuit court judge in order to focus on his legal practice. He actively promoted secession.^[1]

Largely on the advice of several of Walker's supporters, including his brother Richard, PresidentJefferson Davis appointed him to the post of Secretary of War, though Walker was not personally known to Davis. He was energetic and confident in support of theConfederacy, but had no military training. The stress and difficulties of his cabinet position seriously affected his health.^[2] In March 1861, theSouthern states that hadseceded from theUnion appointed special commissioners to travel to those other Southern states that had yet to secede. Walker was chosen as the commissioner from Alabama to theTennessee Secession Convention, where he publicly read Alabama's Articles of Secession and tried to persuade Tennessee politicians to vote to do likewise.

In April 1861, shortly after the Civil War began with thebombardment of Fort Sumter by rebel forces, Walker predicted thatWashington, D.C., andBoston would fall to the Confederacy before May 1 of that year. However, this never happened.

Starting in August 1861, Davis encouraged Walker to become a Confederate representative to Europe; Walker did not accept this, but on September 16 he resigned his post. Davis made him abrigadier general in theConfederate States Army, and he commanded the army garrisons inMobile andMontgomery, Alabama, before resigning in March 1862.^[3] He returned to the army in April 1864 to serve as a military judge.

After the war, Walker returned to his legal practice and continued to be interested in politics. He died in 1884 and was buried inMaple Hill Cemetery in Huntsville.

• List of American Civil War generals (Confederate)

• "Leroy Pope Walker". The Confederate War Department. Archived fromthe original on August 8, 2011. RetrievedAugust 13, 2011.
• Eicher, John H.;Eicher, David J. (June 2002),Civil War High Commands, Stanford, CA: Stanford University Press (published 2001),ISBN 978-0-8047-3641-1
• Patrick, Rembert W. (1944).Jefferson Davis and His Cabinet. Baton Rouge: Louisiana State University Press. pp. 104–120.
• Sifakis, Stewart (1988),Who Was Who in the Civil War, New York: Facts On File,ISBN 978-0-8160-1055-4
• Warner, Ezra J. (1959),Generals in Gray: Lives of the Confederate Commanders, Baton Rouge, LA: Louisiana State University Press,ISBN 978-0-8071-0823-9{{citation}}:ISBN / Date incompatibility (help)

• Media related toLeRoy Pope Walker at Wikimedia Commons

• 1817 births
• 1884 deaths
• Alabama state court judges
• American Presbyterians
• Confederate States Army brigadier generals
• Executive members of the Cabinet of the Confederate States of America
• 19th-century American legislators
• Democratic Party members of the Alabama House of Representatives
• Politicians from Huntsville, Alabama
• People of Alabama in the American Civil War
• Walker family
• Military personnel from Huntsville, Alabama
• Lawyers from Huntsville, Alabama
• 19th-century Alabama state court judges
• 19th-century American lawyers
• 19th-century Alabama politicians

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