William W. Morris

William Walton Morris Jr. (August 31, 1801 – December 11, 1865) was an American soldier and a career officer in the United States Army. He served as a colonel and brevet brigadier general in the Regular Army (United States), with Union Army service during the American Civil War (1861–1865). Morris served as a brigade commander primarily in charge of the defense of Fort McHenry and Baltimore Harbor. He had several brief periods in command of VIII Corps and of the Middle Department, which almost completely overlapped with each other. Early life Morris was born in 1801 at Ballston Springs, New York. Morris was the second son of Sarah (née Carpenter) Morris and Lt. William Walton Morris Sr. (1760–1832), who served as aide-de-camp to Gen. Anthony Wayne. Among his siblings was Lewis Morris (who married Julia Hayes), Gouverneur Morris (who married Anna Maria de Camp), James Morris, Frances Morris (who married David Brooks), Anne Morris (who married Aquila G. Stout), and Arthur Breese Morris (who married Mary Bard). His paternal grandparents were Lewis Morris, a signer of the United States Declaration of Independence, and Mary (née Walton) Morris, herself a granddaughter of prominent merchant William Walton. Among his large extended family was paternal uncle Richard Valentine Morris, aunt Helena Magdalena Morris (wife of U.S. Senator John Rutherfurd). Military training and service He was appointed as a cadet in the United States Military Academy at West Point, New York on March 17, 1815 at age fourteen. Morris graduated last out of 30 cadets in the class of 1820.