THE TWO BROTHERS. By Captain David G. Maxwell, Co.H, Thirty-Fifth Regiment, North Carolina Troops. The fortune of war was never more strikingly portrayed perhaps than two pictures opposite, entitled Before and After, of two brothers, soldier boys of Mecklenburg County, who enlisted in Company B, Thirteenth North Carolina Regiment, in April, 1861. The first picture of the boys, L.J. and H.J. Walker, of Mecklenburg County, in their Confederate uniforms, and with left hands clasped, was taken in 1861 a short while after their enlistment. The second picture was taken some time after the war, the brothers in the same position as the first with left hands clasped, but the left leg of each does not appear in the picture. The leg of one brother was buried at Gettysburg, Pa., and that of the other at Hagerstown, Md. L.J. Walker, the younger brother, was wounded 1 July, 1863, he being the fifth color-bearer to be shot down in the charge on Cemetery Hill at Gettysburg. His leg was amputated at the field hospital by Dr. John H. McAden, of Charlotte. He was afterwards taken prisoner and sent to Davids Island, N.Y. H.J. Walker, the elder brother, participated in the three days engagement at Gettysburg, coming out unhurt, but on the retreat, 13 July, while on skirmish line near Hagerstown, Md., he was wounded in the left leg, conveyed to the field hospital and his leg amputated by the late Dr. Campbell, of Statesville. Young Walker was put in an ambulance and taken to Martinsburg, Va., and a few days thereafter was taken prisoner and sent to Johnsons Island, Ohio, and remained there until April, 1864. The brothers were poor boys and reared on the farm. They are now in affluent circumstances, and are honored citizens of Charlotte. Dr. H.J. Walker, the elder, studied medicine after the war, and now enjoys a good practice and owns two drug stores, one at Huntersville and one in Dilworth, a residence suburb of Charlotte. L.J. Walker, the younger brother, and who appears on the left in each picture, is now a retired merchant. No two better citizens than Dr. Jack and Jasper Walker can be found in North Carolina or in any other State. Mecklenburg is proud of them and North Carolina should be. An amusing, though pathetic, incident is related of the two brothers. When they returned, battle-scarred, from the tented field, L.J. Walker found the sweetheart whom he had left behind, four years before, still true, and waiting to be claimed by her lover. The day for the wedding was set and all preparations made. But on that eventful day, and only a few hours before the ceremony was to take place, the prospective bridegroom met with an accident which seemed like the unfriendly dealing of fate. He slipped and in some way broke his cork leg. Deprived of this very useful member, the young man found that he could not possibly stand up for the ceremony, and was therefore in quite a dilemma. At this important juncture, his brother, Dr. H.J. Walker, went forward and saved the day by offering to loan his leg to his brother. The proffered leg was gladly accepted and found to fit perfectly. This is perhaps the only case on record in which one man has been married while standing on the leg of another. Captain David G. Maxwell - 35th North Carolina Photo: Jack and Jasper Walker - 13th North Carolina North Carolina Confederates
Posted on: Fri, 05 Sep 2014 21:12:24 +0000
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