Researched and written by Cheri Todd Molter and Kobe M. Brown
George W. Walters was a farmer who lived in Chatham County, North Carolina, when the war started. In 1862, thirty-three-year-old Walters was conscripted into the Confederate army as a private. He was mustered into Company A of the 5th North Carolina Infantry on July 15th at Raleigh, North Carolina. According to his military records, Walters had dark hair, hazel eyes, and was six feet tall.
On September 6, 1862, Walters was hospitalized for measles at Chimborazo Hospital in Richmond, Virginia. By Oct. 19, he had recovered enough to be transferred to the hospital at Huguenot Springs, Virginia, and he remained there until at least Nov. 1, 1862. According to his compiled military records, Walters was on furlough for the month of January 1863. Afterward, he returned to serve with his company.
On July 20, 1864, Walters was wounded and captured by Union forces under the command of General Sheridan at Winchester, Virginia. On July 23rd, he was admitted at the “U.S.A. Gen’l Hospital” at Cumberland, Maryland, to be treated for a gun shot “flesh wound right leg.” There, he received a “simple dressing,” spent some time recovering, then was sent to Camp Chase, Ohio, in November 1864. About seven months later, on June 12, 1865, George W. Walters took the Oath of Allegiance to the United States at Camp Chase.
