Colonel Edwin Waller, Jr. (CSA)

Edwin Waller, Jr., Confederate officer, son of Juliet M. (de Shields) and Edwin Waller, was born on October 16, 1825. He attended the school at Bernardo Plantation in Austin County, now Waller County. Prior to the outbreak of the Civil War, Waller farmed and helped operate his father's mercantile business in Austin County.

On July 26, 1860, he served with six other men on a county resolutions committee that participated in establishing a county vigilance committee. In February 1861 at Houston, Waller became captain of a consolidated defense company. His command was transferred from Houston, via Galveston, to Brazos Santiago to assist in the defense of the lower Rio Grande. When the Second Texas Cavalry Regiment, or Mounted Rifles, commanded by John S. (Rip) Ford, was formed, Waller became a major of the new regiment and served under John R. Baylor in West Texas and New Mexico. In 1862, as lieutenant colonel and commander of the Thirteenth Texas Cavalry Battalion, he conducted partisan activities in southern and western Louisiana after losing his horses and supplies in a surprise attack by federals. The unit was attached in 1863 to Thomas Green's Brigade, which had recently arrived from New Mexico. The following year the battalion participated in the battles of Mansfield and Pleasant Hill. In 1865 the battalion was raised to regimental status, and Waller was promoted to colonel.

After the war Waller returned to his home in Austin County and resumed his role as a farmer and businessman. Under the new Constitution of 1876, he became the first justice of the peace for his precinct. In 1877 he was appointed postmaster of the Waller's Store Post Office in Waller County, organized in 1873. Waller married Juliet Pauline Ferguson in 1858, and they had three children. On July 6, 1878, while temporarily residing in Richmond, he died at the home of B. W. Bell and was buried in Richmond.

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Brenham Weekly Banner
Brenham, Texas
Friday, July 12, 1878

We regret to learn that Col. Edwin Waller, Jr., died on Sunday last at Richmond.

Col. Waller was a prominent officer in Green's Brigade, and was a gallant soldier.

His age was about 48 years.

He was the last surviving son of Judge Edwin Waller, one of the signers of the Declaration of Texas Independence.