Military Records: Will Dark, CSA, 1940, Winn Parish, LA
Submitted by Greggory E. Davies, 120 Ted Price Lane, Winnfield, LA 71483

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From: December 5, 1940 Winn Parish Enterprise

"THERE IS NO GOOD TO WAR" SAYS WINN CONFEDERATE VET

Father Time is slowly but surely erasing the landmarks which tell silent tales
of the War Between the States and placing its memories in the pages of history
and romantic fiction about the old South.  But all memories have not yet been
lost, after 80 years have passed since the Gray and Blue armies fought in the
cotton fields of the South.  Yet as each year rolls by the number of persons
alive who remember the great struggle grows smaller and smaller.

The last living symbol of the South's historic fight for independence in this
parish is "Uncle" Will Dark, 92 years "young" who quietly resides on his
little strip of land four miles north of Gaars Mill.

"Uncle" Will, as he is commonly known to all residents in his section, saw
active service as a Courier under General Joseph E. Johnston during the Civil
War and was in the thick of the historic fight of Atlanta, against the strong
Union forces of General William Sherman.  He was only 12 at the time of the
outbreak of the war and at the ripe age of 16 was an experienced army veteran,
a man who had fought through four hard years of civil war.

Mr. Dark is formerly a native of Georgia, being born in Merriweather County,
of that state, May______________joined the Confederate army.  

Shortly after this the Union's army had pushed east, through Tennessee, and
was coming down the mountains upon Atlanta, hub of the South at that time. 
When the armies clashed near Atlanta, there ensued some of the most desperate
fighting of the war.  "Sherman always had more men than we did," related the
old soldier, "but we gave him a devil of a time.  Our army wore itself out
trying to whip them."

The old man then went on to relate how Sherman's army finally broke the Gray
line that defended the city and made that immortal drive through Georgia, then
pushed north through the Carolinas while Grant was bringing the main part of
the northern army into Virginia in the final stages of the war.

After the fighting ceased, Mr. Dark spent two years in Georgia, then came to
Louisiana once more, settling in Homer, La., in 1869.  Several years later he
moved to Winn Parish where he has lived ever since.

"Uncle" Will has been up the middle aisle with a bride three times and is the
father of 21 children.  When the Confederate Veterans organized in this parish
he served as their adjutant for a short period.

Since the death of Thomas Jefferson (Uncle Tom) James, another Confederate
veteran, last July 20, Uncle Will is the sole remaining wearer of the Gray
uniform alive in this parish.  In fact he is still very much alive, and keeps
in touch with his neighbors and the news of the day.  He hates war, but says
that America should have gone in at the beginning of the present war to help
England and France.  "There is no good part to war, for either side," he says.