LeRoy Pope Walker was the first Confederate States Secretary of War

Confederate States Secretary of War

The Confederate States Secretary of War was a member of the Confederate States President's Cabinet during the Civil War. The Secretary of War led the Confederate States Department of War. The position ended in May 1865 when the Confederacy crumbled during John C. Breckinridge's tenure of the...

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Walker was born near Huntsville, Alabama

Huntsville, Alabama

Huntsville is a city located primarily in Madison County in the central part of the far northern region of the U.S. state of Alabama. Huntsville is the county seat of Madison County. The city extends west into neighboring Limestone County. Huntsville's population was 180,105 as of the 2010 Census....

 in 1817, the son of John Williams Walker

John Williams Walker

John Williams Walker was an American politician, who served as the Democratic-Republican United States senator from the state of Alabama, the first senator elected by that state....

 and Matilda Pope, and a grandson of LeRoy Pope

LeRoy Pope

LeRoy Pope was a prominent American planter, lawyer, and early settler of Madison County, Alabama. He purchased much of the land on which downtown Huntsville, Alabama now stands, and for his role in the establishment and early growth of that city, has been called the "Father of Huntsville." -Early...

. He was educated by private tutors, then attended universities in Alabama and Virginia. Before reaching the age of 21, he was admitted to the bar. He held various offices in Alabama; in 1853, he resigned his position as a circuit court judge in order to focus on his legal practice.