Undated post-Civil War photograph of William Sparks, possibly taken in the early 1880s; Sparks has a miniature metal Grand Army of the Republic medal on his vest lapel and a reunion medal on his coat.

Sparks, a native of Wilkes County, North Carolina, and resident of Mercer County, Missouri, joined Company E, 12th Missouri Cavalry on October 26, 1863, in Princeton, Missouri; he was promoted to corporal on July 1, 1865, and to sergeant on January 5, 1866. He was mustered out on April 9, 1866, and died in Princeton, Missouri, on March 25, 1926. The 12th saw service in Mississippi and Tennessee, including the Battle of Nashville, before being sent west in 1865 to battle Native Americans in Nebraska during the Powder River Expedition.

Photograph by Unknown Photographer

Image Courtesy Wilson’s Creek National Battlefield; WICR 32595