Special Note from the Sons of Confederate Veterans:

The Sons of Confederate Veterans (SCV) Camp has replaced the headstone of Pvt. William T. Falwell and it will be dedicated by the Children of the Confederacy on Saturday April 20, 2019.

Charles Kelly Barrow

Past Commander-in-Chief 2014-2016

Sons of Confederate Veterans

"To tar the sacrifices of the Confederate soldier as simple acts of racism, and reduce the battle flag under which he fought to nothing more than the symbol of a racist heritage, is one of the great blasphemies of our modern age. " Former U.S. Senator Jim Webb

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William Thomas Falwell was born in about 1845 in Chapel Hill, Tennessee, to Sarah Sally Alford, age 35, and Moses Falwell, age 42. He had three brothers and four sisters. He enlisted in the Civil War when he was 18 years of age. Sadly, William died on December 7, 1863, while serving as a soldier in the Civil War. His death took place in Griffin, Georgia, and he was buried there in the Stonewall Confederate Cemetery.

Apparently, William Thomas died while in the S. P. Moore Hospital at Griffin, Spalding, Georgia. It is not known if he died from war wounds or disease, but he died during the Civil War.

Many who died in the battles of Atlanta and Jonesboro were left without a proper burial. Around 1867, a group of women organized to form the Ladies Memorial Aid Society to create a cemetery for the fallen soldiers.

William had enlisted in the 17th Tennessee Regiment on November 24, 1862, at Chapel Hill, Tennessee by Capt. Cooper. Soon after he joined the Confederate Army, his regiment fought in the Battle of Murfreesboro on December 31, 1862. At Murfreesboro, the brigade was in General Patrick R. Cleburn's Division, and the 17th with 598 men engaged, lost 246 men killed and wounded, including 22 out of 41 officers.

Following the Tullahoma campaign, the regiment was heavily engaged at the Battle of Chickamauga on September 19-20, 1863, and suffered 130 causalities out of 249 men engaged. The battle area was in Northwest Georgia near the town of Chattanooga. Here the brigade consisted of the 17th, 23rd, 25th, and 44th Tennessee Infantry Regiments. The 17th suffered 130 casualties out of 249 engaged, including the loss of Major Davis and 60 men captured. Even with the many losses, the Battle of Chickamauga was a Confederate victory.

It is possible that William Thomas Falwell was wounded in the battle of Chickamauga and that is how he ended up in the hospital in Griffin, Georgia.

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17th Tennessee Infantry Regiment, Descendants Association, Soldier's Notes - "Private Elisha M. Rickman of Marshall County served in Company F until his medical discharge after a period as a POW. His first cousin, Private William T. Falwell of Marshall County, also served in Company F."

Note: William Falwell and Elisha Rickman were 1st cousins. William's father, Moses, and Elisha's mother, Temperance, were siblings.