Walter H. Taylor

Walter Herron Taylor
Lt. Col. Walter H. Taylor, Lee's aide-de-camp
Born	(1838-06-13)June 13, 1838 Norfolk, Virginia
Died	March 1, 1916(1916-03-01) (aged 77) Norfolk, Virginia
Place of burial	Elmwood Cemetery, Norfolk, Virginia
Allegiance	Confederate States of America
Service/branch	Confederate States Army
Years of service	1861–1865
Rank	lieutenant colonel
Commands held	Assistant Adjutant General, Army of Northern Virginia
Battles/wars	American Civil War
Other work	Virginia State Senator, bank president, railroad executive

Walter Herron Taylor (June 13, 1838 – March 1, 1916) was an American banker, lawyer, soldier, politician, author, and railroad executive from Norfolk, Virginia. During the American Civil War, he was an officer in the Confederate States Army, attaining the rank of lieutenant colonel as an aide to General Robert E. Lee. He was later a senator in the Virginia General Assembly, and attorney for the Norfolk and Western Railway and later the Virginian Railway.

Taylor was born on June 13, 1838, in Norfolk, Virginia. He was the son of Walter H. Taylor Sr. and Cornelia Wickham Cowdery, and was a descendant of English colonist Adam Thoroughgood and his wife Sarah. Throughgood (1604–1640) was an early leader and is widely credited for the naming of various forms of Norfolk County and the Lynnhaven River in the earliest colonial days of the 17th century. Taylor graduated from Virginia Military Institute (VMI) at Lexington, Virginia in 1857. He became a merchant and banker in Norfolk.

During the American Civil War (1861–1865), Taylor joined the Confederate States Army on the secession of Virginia in 1861 and joined the staff of General Robert E. Lee. When General Lee assumed command of the Army of Northern Virginia in June 1862, during the Peninsula Campaign, Taylor became assistant adjutant general of that army.