William Watson (1826–1906) immigrated from Scotland to the Caribbean Islands in the 1840s. Trained as an shipbuilding engineer, he worked as a civil engineer and occasional captain of sailing vessels. Sometime about 1850 he moved to Louisiana. When the state seceded, Watson enlisted in the Confederate Army, serving as a sergeant in the 3rd Louisiana Infantry. After the war, Watson returned to Scotland, where he wrote Life In The Confederate Army: Being The Observations And Experiences Of An Alien In The South During The American Civil War (1888).