George Washington Williams (October 16, 1849-August 2, 1891) was an American Civil War veteran, minister, politician and historian. Shortly before his death he travelled to King Leopold II's Congo Free State and his open letter to Leopold about the suffering of the region's inhabitants at the hands of Leopold's agents, helped to sway European and American public opinion against the regime running the Congo, ^[1], under which some 10 million people lost their lives.