[3] During the Civil War, Colonel Walter served as a Judge Advocate under General Bragg in the Confederate States Army.

[4] When Confederate General Earl Van Dorn liberated Holly Springs, Walter forbid him to enter the house until Julia Grant has gone out.

She goes on to say that Van Dorn's men wanted to take her belongings, but were refused access to the Walter's house, but they did burn her coach and take the horses.

In 1858–1860, he commissioned architect Spires Boling to build Walter Place, a mansion in Holly Springs, Mississippi.

His mansion, Walter Place, was inherited by his widow until it was acquired by his son-in-law, Oscar Johnson Sr., the co-founder of the International Shoe Company and husband of daughter Irene, in 1889.