Heavily engaged at the Battle of Gettysburg

Wounded in the Atlanta Campaign at the Battle of New Hope Church in 1864

United States Congressman from Michigan

(1810-78) Born in Deep River, Connecticut, he graduated from Yale University with a law degree in 1831. He settled in Detroit, Michigan, in 1836, which at the time was a booming frontier town, where he established a law practice. Williams had a variety of careers in Detroit including that of probate judge of Wayne County, president of the Bank of St. Clair, owner and editor of the Detroit Advertiser Daily Newspaper, postmaster of Detroit, and he was a member of the Michigan Militia. He also served as the president of the state's military board and in 1859 was a major in the Detroit Light Guard. At the outbreak of the Civil War in 1861, Williams was involved in training the first army volunteers in Michigan, and was commissioned a brigadier general of U.S. Volunteers on May 17, 1861. His first assignment after leaving the training camps was as a brigade commander in General Nathaniel P. Banks's division of the Army of the Potomac. He then took over as a division commander in the 5th Corps in March 1862. His division was then transferred to the Department of the Shenandoah and with Banks's troops were sent to fight General Thomas J. "Stonewall" Jackson in the 1862 Shenandoah Valley Campaign where they were thoroughly outmaneuvered, allowing Jackson to bottle them up in the Valley with his much smaller force. On June 26th, Williams's division was transferred to the Army of Virginia, under General John Pope, for the Northern Virginia Campaign. In the Battle of Cedar Mountain, they went up against Jackson again, and were again defeated. Williams's division rejoined the Army of the Potomac as the 1st Division of the 12th Corps and marched north into the Maryland Campaign where they fought in the Battle of Antietam. The division was heavily engaged and once again went up against Stonewall Jackson on the Confederate left flank. The corps commander, General Joseph K. Mansfield, was killed early in the battle, and General Williams assumed command of the corps. They suffered 25% casualties in assaulting Jackson's troops. In the Battle of Chancellorsville, on May 2, 1863, Stonewall Jackson's corps executed a surprise flanking movement and smashed into the right flank of the Army of the Potomac, severely damaging the 11th Corps. The division commanded by General Williams, hastily dug entrenchments and were able to stop the Confederate advance before it overran the entire Union army, but they suffered 1,500 casualties in the process. In the Battle of Gettysburg, Williams's division arrived on the battlefield late in the afternoon of July 1, 1863, and occupied Benner's Hill, east of the town of Gettysburg. On July 2, the 12th Corps took up positions on Culp's Hill, the right flank of the Union line. At this point, due to a command misunderstanding, General Henry Slocum believed that he was in command of the "Right Wing" of the army, consisting of the 11th and 12th Corps. However, General Williams took over command of the 12th Corps, and controlled it for the rest of the battle. On the afternoon of July 2, a massive attack by General James Longstreet on the Union's left flank caused army commander General George G. Meade to order Williams to transfer his entire corps to reinforce the left, in the vicinity of Little Round Top. Williams convinced Meade of the importance of Culp's Hill, and managed to retain one brigade, under General George Greene, in their defensive positions. In an heroic defense, Greene and his brigade withstood the assault of General Edward "Allegheny" Johnson's Confederate division throughout the night, until the remaining brigades of the 12th Corps returned. Early on July 3rd, Williams launched an attack against the Confederates who had occupied some of the entrenchments on the hill and, after a seven-hour battle, regained his original line. In September 1863, the Union army in Tennessee was defeated at the Battle of Chickamauga and two corps were sent west to help them as they were besieged in Chattanooga—the 11th and 12th Corps. Alpheus S. Williams joined General William T. Sherman as part of 20th Corps in the Atlanta Campaign, and fought with distinction in a number of battles, particularly the Battle of Resaca. Williams was wounded in the arm at the Battle of New Hope Church on May 26, 1864. His division accompanied General Sherman on his March to the Sea, and in the 1865 Carolina's Campaign. In these campaigns Williams led the 20th Corps until, following the Battle of Bentonville. During this period, General Williams received a brevet promotion to major general on January 12, 1865. Williams held the distinction of being the longest-serving division commander in the Union army, and he led them in the Grand Review of the Union Armies in Washington D.C. in May 1865. Williams was noted to have had a long record of dependable service during his Civil War army career. After the war, Williams served as a military administrator in southern Arkansas until he left the service on January 15, 1866. He then was appointed as the U.S. Minister at San Salvador, a position in which he served until 1869. He ran for governor of Michigan in 1870, but was defeated. He was elected to the 45th United States Congress from Michigan, serving from 1875-78, and served as chairman of the Committee on the District of Columbia.

General Alpheus S. Williams suffered a stroke on December 21, 1878, and died in the U.S. Capitol Building. He is buried in Elmwood Cemetery in Detroit.

Wet plate, albumen carte de visite photograph, mounted to 2 3/8 x 4 card. Superb bust view in uniform with rank of brigadier general. Imprint on the front mount, Brady, New York. Back mark: Brady's National Photographic Portrait Galleries, Broadway & Tenth Street, New York & No. 352 Pennsylvania Av., Washington, D.C. Very desirable image. Rare.