[1] His maternal grandfather, John Cunningham, has been a member of Staunton's Committee of Safety during the American Revolutionary War, as well as captain of a cavalry company in the Virginia militia.
Michael Garber Harman ran a stage line with the help of their brother Asher Waterman Harmon, as well as a hotel in Staunton with William H.
[6] Governor John Letcher appointed William Henry Harman brigadier general of the 13th Brigade of Virginia militia on April 10, 1861.
Wise approached Captain John D. Imboden of the Staunton Artillery, Virginia militia, then in Richmond, and proposed a preemptive strike directed at the United States Armory and Arsenal at Harpers Ferry.
[7] When the Virginia convention passed the secession ordinance, Governor Letcher gave his blessing to the action, and Harpers Ferry was taken on April 18.
[1][3] Thereafter, Harman briefly served as aide-de-camp to Brigadier General Edward "Allegheny" Johnson in Jackson's Valley Campaign during April 1862.
[11] William Henry Harman was killed in action while attempting to rally his troops during the Confederate rout at the Battle of Waynesboro, Virginia, the town where he was born, on March 2, 1865.
[6] His brothers would rebuild and expand the railroads connecting at Staunton and son Arthur C. Harman would follow his father's political career and serve in both houses of the Virginia General Assembly.