William Whistler

Who is William Whistler?

Dr. William McNeill Whistler was a Confederate soldier and surgeon from Lowell, Massachusetts. His parents are George Washington Whistler and Anna McNeill Whistler. His brother is famed artist James McNeill Whistler, who painted Whistler's Mother.

Whistler studied medicine and graduated from The University of Pennsylvania in 1860 and married Flora King of Virginia that same year.

He served as a surgeon in the Confederate Army during the American Civil War in Orr's Rifles, 1st South Carolina Rifle Regiment, under Colonel James Lawrence Orr. Orr's Rifles were ultimately under the command of General Robert E. Lee's Army of Northern Virginia and served in many engagements including the Seven Days, Beaver Dam Creek, Gaines' Mill, Frayser's Farm, Cedar Mountain, Manassas Station Ops, Second Manassas, Ox Hill, Harpers Ferry, Sharpsburg, Shepherdstown, Fredericksburg, Chancellorsville, Gettysburg, Bristoe Station, Mine Run, the Wilderness, Spotsylvania Court House, North Anna, Cold Harbor, Petersburg Siege, Jerusalem Plank Road, Fussell's Mill, Second Ream's Station, Peebles' Farm, Boydton Plank Road, and Third Petersburg.

Orr's Rifles surrendered at Appomattox Court House, but Dr.