Samuel H. Walker was an apprentice carpenter in Washington, D.C., when the second Seminole War broke out in 1838. He enlisted in a Washington militia unit and went to Florida. Upon the expiration of the unit's service, he was employed in the construction of the railroad from Mobile to Pensacola. Upon the completion of his labors, he removed to Texas where he joined the ill-fated Mier Expedition in 1842, being subsequently imprisoned by the Mexican...