DOB:  June 18, 1843 DOD:  April 3, 1921 Age at Enlistment: 22 Date of Enlistment:  May 9,1861 Place of Enlistment:  Franklin, TN Rank at Enlistment:  Private Rank at Discharge:  1st Corporal Casualty:  William was wounded slightly in face at Murfreesboro December 31, 1862.  He was shot through the lung at Missionary Ridge on November 25, 1863.  He also states he recieved minor wounds at Perryville, Atlanta, and Franklin twice. Comments:  William was born and raised in Williamson County.  His boyhood is still standing on Wilson Pike several miles east of Franklin.  He attended school and was preparing to enter the University of Virginia when the war broke out, and he enlisted at the Company’s formation.  On the roster dated September and October 1861, it is stated that he is sick in the hospital at Hot Springs, VA.  At the Company’s reorganization on April 30, 1862 he was elected 4th Corporal.  At the Battle of Perryville every Officer and NCO above him was killed or wounded and he ended up in charge of the Company.  William states he was slightly wounded at this battle but he does not appear on Captain Atkeison’s casualty or the official regimental casualty list.  A few months later at the Battle of Murfreesboro he was slightly wounded in the face.  At some point during 1863 he was promoted to 2nd Corporal and he was eventually promoted to 1st Corporal on January 1, 1864.  At the Battle of Missionary Ridge he received his most severe wound.  The 1st Tennessee was initially in reserve but went forward when the front line units ran out of ammunition.  The 1st Tennessee ending up charging over the works and down the ridge.  Pollard states he was shot 10 feet from the Federal line during this attack.  The bullet pierced his lung and exited out his back.  He was picked up by the infirmary corps and taken to the rear.  Shortly after this the Confederate line was broken and the Confederates began to withdraw from Missionary Ridge.  William states that two men, whom he did not know, tried helping him walk out but he was too weak to walk.  They then drug him by his feet to the field hospital.  He was near an ambulance was able to get a member of his company to put him on it.  The ambulance took him to Dalton and eventually a train where former Tennessee governor Neil Brown gave him whiskey to ease his suffering.  William claimed this alone saved his life.  His wound at Missionary Ridge would give him trouble until the day he died.  William was given a wounded furlough and travelled to Amelia Courthouse, VA to continue his recovery.  He rejoined the 1st Tennessee just before the Atlanta Campaign started in 1864.  He fought in all the engagements during the campaign.  Just before the Battle of Atlanta on July 22, 1864, his friend Lieutenant Kit Ridley had a premonination that he was was going to be killed the next day.  He asked William to pray with him and the two went off int he bushes and William said he gave his first audible prayer.  Kit Ridley’s premonination came true the next day and he was killed in the attack.  In the same attack William stated he was slightly wounded.  William fought through the 1864 Tennessee Campaign and stopped by his parent’s house on the night following the Battle of Nashville.  His mother asked him what his plans were and he informed her he intended to return to the front, which he did the next day.  He was 1 of 7 to surrender with Johnston at Greenboro, N.C. on April 26, 1865. Following the war, William married Susan Cowles in 1867 and the couple had two children.  He opened and country store and lived across the street from his parent’s house.  In 1877 he moved to Nashville and went into business there.  He helped run Webb, Pollard, & Co located at 6 Broad that sold Tobacco and Produce.  He also ran a hardware store called Pollard, Black & Co.  He lived at 20 South Fourth Ave and 5 South Fourth Ave.  In 1894 he retired from business and began studying law. By 1899, he had passed the bar.  From 1902 to 1918 he was the Davidson County Judge. William died on April 7, 1922 from sepsis of the bladder brought on by a fractured hip.  After his death only three other Williamson Grays were still living. He is buried in Mount Olivet Cemetery in Nashville. 

Group shot of some of the Williamson Grays who served the entire war and surrendered in 1865.  William is standing on the right (From the Confederate Veteran Magazine).

Left:  William Pollard’s grave in Mount Olivet Right:  William Pollard’s boyhood home off of Wilson Pike.