W. L. Trask was born in Jefferson County, Kentucky, in 1832. In his early years he lived in Louisville, Kentucky. He was a steamboat pilot, living in Louisiana when the Civil War began. Early in the war he was commissioned a 2nd Lieutenant in the Sumter Greys of New Orleans. In autumn of 1861 he commanded the river steamer Charm, in Confederate campaigns on Columbus, Kentucky, and Belmont, Missouri. In May 1862 he joined Bragg's army as adjutant of Austin's Battalion of Sharpshooters. He went on the Kentucky campaign and was at Murfreesboro. During the Atlanta campaign he apparently served as an enlisted courier for General W. J. Hardee. After the war he was a newspaperman in Memphis, working first as a reporter on the Memphis Star and subsequently as commercial editor for the Memphis Appeal-Avalanche and the Morning News. He died in Memphis in February 1908.
From the description of W.L. Trask papers, 1861-1865 [microform]. (Unknown). WorldCat record id: 78526997
