William Henry Gilham was an American soldier, teacher, chemist, and author.
11 Facts About William Gilham
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William Gilham served in the Confederate Army during the American Civil War, and became president of Southern Fertilizing Company in Richmond after the War.
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William Henry Gilham was born in Vincennes, Indiana on January 13,1818.
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William Gilham was appointed to the United States Military Academy at West Point, New York, where he graduated 5th in the Class of 1840.
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William Gilham became a lieutenant in the 3rd Artillery in the United States Army and fought in the Seminole War in Florida.
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In November 1859, at the request of the Virginia Governor Henry A Wise, Major Gilham led a contingent of the VMI Cadets Corps to Charles Town to provide an additional military presence for at the execution by hanging on December 2,1859, of militant abolitionist John Brown following his raid on the federal arsenal at Harper's Ferry.
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William Gilham's manual proved to be the ideal book for the training of these young men.
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William Gilham briefly commanded a brigade in the field in 1861 and 1862, but returned to teaching at VMI.
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William Gilham was present, but did not command the young troops during the battle.
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William Gilham went to work in Richmond for Southern Fertilizer Company, which occupied the former Confederate Libby Prison facility near Richmond's Tobacco Row.
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William Gilham died in Vermont on November 16,1872, aged 54.