Lee and His Generals: William Henry Chase Whiting

Continued from November 10.

Since the McHenry County Civil War Round Table was having its July 2, 2022, discussion group topic on Lee and his generals, I prepared this information on my favorite Confederate general, W.H.C. Whiting.

He was born in Biloxi, Mississippi, the son of Lt. Colonel Levi Whiting.  I haven't found it written anywhere else, but he was most likely named after his father's commander, William Henry Chase (1798-1870).

Whiting graduated 1st in his USMA Class of 1845 and was assigned to the engineers. (The top USMA graduates were assigned to the engineers.)    He spent his prewar career in the Army designing seacoast defenses in Maryland and Florida as well as harbor fortifications in San Francisco, California.

He then spent five years improving rivers, canals and harbors in North Carolina, South Carolina, Georgia and Florida.  He also built the Cape Lookout, North Carolina, lighthouse.

--Old Secesh

Was Alice Whiting Waterman Related to Gen. W.H.C. Whiting?

Her maiden name being Whiting sparked my interest.  Could she have been the sister of Gen. W.H.C. Whiting of Fort Fisher?

She was born in Baton Rouge, Louisiana, in 1820.  Gen.Whiting was born March 22, 1824, in Biloxi, Mississippi.

Gen. Whiting's father was Levi Whiting an officer in the 1st U.S. Artillery Regiment who was stationed in the south in the 1820s and was at Fort Pickens, guarding Pensacola, Florida, which was commanded by William Henry Chase.  (perhaps that accounted for W.H.C.'s name?

His father was transferred back north and I did read that Whiting's sister, brother and mother attended his funeral in New York City in 1865.

Maybe I'll Find Out a Family Connection?  --Old Secesh