Alfred Walter was a 25-year-old physician when he was elected captain of the Ashpole True Boys. Unfortunately, dysentery forced an early end to the young doctor’s military career.
Alfred Bethea Walter was born in Marion District, SC on March 1, 1837. His parents, Tristram and Catherine, were farmers. Alfred grew up on the family farm, but his parents had enough money to send him off to college, where he earned a medical degree.
In 1860, Alfred Walter was living in Lumberton and practicing medicine. On March 10, 1862, 78 Robeson County men formed the “Ashpole True Boys,” an infantry company. They elected Dr. Alfred Walter as their captain.
On April 10, the Ashpole True Boys were mustered into service at Camp Holmes near Wilmington. Two weeks later, the unit was designated as Company F, 51st Regiment North Carolina Troops.
Captain Walter began having health issues almost immediately, contracting dysentery. He was absent May and June 1862. He returned to duty in July, but he was still suffering from dysentery. On August 10, 1862, Alfred Walter resigned his commission. His resignation letter was accompanied by a surgeon’s certificate, stating that Walter had suffered from chronic dysentery for three months. Walter’s resignation was accepted on August 23, and he moved to Fair Bluff.
Sometime in 1862, Alfred married Amanda Floyd and moved to Marion District. On March 10, 1864, he joined Company G of Hampton’s Legion and served with that unit as a private until the end of the war. [Walter may have been conscripted.] In 1870, he was practicing medicine near Conway, SC.
Alfred and Amanda moved back to Marion County before 1900. During the census of that year, they were living together near Hillsboro. The couple was childless. Amanda died in 1901. Two years later, Alfred married Della Alford. In 1910, Albert and Della were living in Galivants Ferry. Walter was still a physician.
Dr. Alfred Bethea Walter died on August 3, 1913. Della, who was 21 tears younger than Alfred, died in 1951 at the Confederate Home in Columbia. The couple are buried side-by-side in Mullins, SC.
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