Harding, William Giles, 1808-1886

William Giles Harding was born near Nashville, Tenn. He was a general in the Tennessee militia during the American Civil War, and was imprisoned by federal troops. His family's home, Belle Meade Plantation, became one of the best thoroughbred breeding farms in the country after the war.

William Harding from Davidson county, Tennessee entered the American Literary, Scientific and Military Academy (forerunner of Norwich University) in 1824 and graduated in 1828. After his graduation, he returned to his farm in Tennessee and raised thoroughbred racehorses. Harding was versed in the law, medicine and engineering. A Confederate sympathizer, William Harding raised and equipped a battery of artillery and ran a factory to manufacture percussion caps for the Confederate army. In 1829, he married Mary Selene McNairy (d. 1839). He was married a second time in 1840 to Elizabeth Irwin McGavock (d. 1867).