Williams was placed in the 40th Alabama Volunteer Regiment in 1862. Williams's first diary entry, dated to February 16, 1864, in the entry, Williams left
Mobile aboard the
Senator and arrived in
Montgomery in the early morning. He soon became acquainted with Theodore Hamilton and Charles Morton, two theatre directors who invite Williams to be a part of their production of
Don César de Bazan. Williams refused and the following day stated that. "The Company here is miserable, all the talent outside Mr. Hamilton and Mr. Morton could be put in a nutshell. What persons go on the stage for who have not intelligence enough to conceive the characters they attempt to personify is what I could never learn." On February 20, 1864, Williams arrived in
Dalton, Georgia, and reunited with some soldiers whom he met in 1862. He discovered that the company has undergone heavy casualties with graves "scattered from
Dog River all through
Mississippi, at
Columbus,
Deer Creek, and
Vicksburg." Following the battle, the company traveled down a
Western and Atlantic Railroad track and Williams notes a grave with the simple engraving: "B. C. Garrison, Co K. 85th
Ill. Regiment." Williams fought in the
Battles of New Hope Church,
Atlanta, and
Bentonville. On March 19, 1865, Williams was captured by a
Michigan Regiment and became a
Prisoner of war.
POW Williams and his fellow prisoners were sent to
Point Lookout Prison in
Maryland. While in bondage, Williams recorded the deaths of General Baker on April 10, 1865, and the
assassination of Abraham Lincoln on April 15, 1865, of which he wrote on 16th. "The camp's full of rumors this morning concerning the death of Lincoln. All agree he was shot at the
Washington Theatre.—Maj[or] Brady, Pro[vost] Marshal gone to Washington to see about getting a lot of us out of here. (Pvt. Coleman) Going to
parole us or commence at least to-morrow." Williams was held as a POW until June 21, 1865. == Post-war activities and political career in Florida ==