William Joseph Hardee was born on October 12, 1815, in Camden County, Georgia. He graduated from the United States Military Academy in 1838, and enjoyed an illustrious career in the US Army.

In the 1850s, he wrote an army manual entitled "Rifle and Light Infantry Tactics." In 1861, he resigned his commission in the US Army which allowed him to accept a commission in the Confederate Army as a brigadier general.

He was promoted to major general on October 7, 1861, and he organized a brigade in Arkansas. Hardee operated in Arkansas and central Kentucky until March of 1862, when he joined the Army of Mississippi at Corinth. He fought well at Shiloh and in the Kentucky Campaign, and was affectionately called "Old Reliable."

Hardee was promoted to the rank of lieutenant general on October 10, 1862. Although he strongly disliked working under Gen. Braxton Bragg, he remained under his command and fought at Chickamauga, Lookout Mountain and Missionary Ridge.

After Bragg resigned and Gen. Joseph E. Johnston took over, Hardee continued in command of his corps through the Atlanta Campaign. After Gen. John Bell Hood replaced Johnston, however, Hardee's concerns about Hood's fitness for the position forced him to seek a transfer. He was assigned to the Department of South Carolina, Georgia and Florida in September of 1864, and Hardee worked to defend Savannah against Union Maj. Gen. William T. Sherman's attack on the ancient southern city. He was forced out of Savannah, and later was forced to surrender Charleston and Columbia in the Carolinas Campaign. His corps was joined with other troops to form the Army of Tennessee. Hardee's last battle was at Bentonville, North Carolina. He surrendered at Greensboro, on April 26, 1865. After the Civil War, he settled in Selma, Alabama, and became a planter. Hardee died on November 6, 1873, while traveling in Virginia.