William Henry Stiles was born on January 1, 1808, in Savannah, Georgia. He attended Hopkins School in New Haven, Connecticut, before studying law at Yale College. He returned to Savannah in the early 1830s and began practicing law. He married Elizabeth Ann Mackay around 1831, and they had at least three children: Mary, born around 1833; William H., born around 1835; and Robert, born around 1837.

 

Stiles served as solicitor general for Georgia’s eastern district from 1833 until 1836, and he served as a Democratic congressman from 1843 to 1845. President James K. Polk appointed him chargé d’affaires to the Austrian Empire in 1845, and he remained there until October 1849. By 1850, he was living in Cass County, Georgia, and he owned $10,000 of real estate. Voters elected him to the state legislature in 1858, and he became state speaker of the house. He served as a delegate to the 1860 Democratic National Convention. By 1860, he owned $97,780 of real estate and $42,000 of personal property.

 

When the Civil War erupted, he helped organize the 60^th Georgia Infantry. He became the regiment’s lieutenant colonel on September 19, 1861, and he was promoted to colonel on July 15, 1862. The regiment took part in the Second Battle of Manassas, the Battle of Antietam, the Battle of Fredericksburg, the Battle of Chancellorsville, the Battle of Gettysburg, and the Overland Campaign. He resigned on August 30, 1864, and returned home to Georgia. He died in Savannah on December 21, 1865.

 

Image: William Henry Stiles (courtesy Wikicommons)

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