Above the High Watermark

It is safe to say that Stephen Alpheastus Corker -- "Fes" to family and friends -- had no idea that his letters to his wife during the War Between the States would form the nucleus of a book in the 21st Century. In Above the High Water Mark, Corker's great-great grandson, John C. Hall, Jr., would use those letters and others, along with excerpts from news reports, photographs, maps and published images, to create an absorbing look into the past. Corker's unit, the Burke Guards, mustered in Waynesboro, Georgia, on April 29, 1861. The narrative follows Corker and his men from Virginia to the North Carolina Outer Banks, to Sharpsburg, Maryland at Bloody Lane where Corker's sword was shot in two. From there eventually to Gettysburg, where the 3rd Georgia, along with other Georgia regiments, made the furthest advance of the battle on July 3, 1863. Corker was initially listed as severely wounded and missing thereafter. General Robert E. Lee wrote to Mrs. Corker informing her that the last position her husband was seen was amongst the Union cannon, and expressing regret that he could do little to console the family. Corker had been captured and was taken to Johnson's Island Prison near Sandusky, Ohio, where he spent the remainder of the war. Although prisoners were reasonably well fed and well treated, unlike those in some Confederate POW camps, Corker found the day-to-day monotony wearing, and often related his desire to come home and see his wife and son. Eventually, the war ended and Captain Corker returned home to the chaos of Reconstruction. In 1870 he ran for a seat in the 41st Congress. He won the election but was challenged by his opponent. Former Union General Benjamin Butler led the attempt to deny Corker his seat. Testimony in the challenged election gives a unique insight into Reconstruction in Georgia. Butler was defeated and Corker became the last member of the Old South to take a seat in the US House of Representatives. Read more