{⋆★⋆} LG Stewart, Alexander P.

Alexander Peter Stewart​

Born: October 2, 1821

Birth Place: Rogersville, Tennessee

Father: William Alexander Stewart 1791 – 1870

Mother: Elizabeth Decherd 1796 – 1847

Wife: Harriet Byron Chase 1823 – 1898

(Buried: Bellefontaine Cemetery, Saint Louis, Missouri)​

Children:

Robert Caruthers Stewart 1846 – 1922​

(Buried: Valhalla Cemetery, Bel – Nor, Missouri)​

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Lt. Alphonso Chase Stewart 1848 – 1916​

(Buried: Bellefontaine Cemetery, Saint Louis, Missouri)​

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Dr. Alexander Peter "Alex" Stewart 1859 – 1937​

(Buried: Southern Memorial Park, Biloxi, Mississippi)​

Education:

1842: Graduated from West Point Military Academy (12th​ in class)​

Occupation before War:

1842 – 1845: 2nd​ Lt. in United States Army, 3rd​ Artillery​

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1842 – 1843: Garrison Duty at Fort Macon, North Carolina​

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1843 – 1845: Assistant Mathematics Professor at West Point​

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1845: Resigned from United States Army on May 31st​​

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1845 – 1849: Math & Philosophy Professor Cumberland University​

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1849 – 1850: Math & Philosophy Professor, University of Nashville​

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1850 – 1854: Math & Philosophy Professor, Cumberland University​

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1854 – 1855: Math & Philosophy Professor, University of Nashville​

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1855: City Surveyor for the City of Nashville, Tennessee​

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1856 – 1861: Math & Philosophy Professor, Cumberland University​

Civil War Career:

1861: Major of Tennessee State Militia, Artillery​

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1861: Major of Confederate States Army, Artillery

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1861 – 1863: Brigadier General, Confederate Army Infantry​

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1863 – 1864: Major General, Confederate Army Infantry​

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1863: Participated in Tullahoma Campaign​

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1863: Wounded during the Battle of Chickamauga​

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1864: Participated in the Atlanta Campaign​

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1864 – 1865: Lt. General, Confederate Army Infantry​

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1864: Wounded during the Battle of Ezra Church​

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1864: Led the Third Corps during Franklin-Nashville Campaign​

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1865: Participated in the Carolina's Campaign​

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1865: Paroled at Greensboro, North Carolina​

Occupation after War:

1866 – 1869: Professor of Mathematics & Philosophy, Cumberland University​

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1869 – 1874: Merchant in Saint Louis, Missouri​

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1874 – 1886: Chancellor of University of Mississippi​

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1891 – 1908: Commissioner of Chickamauga National Battlefield​

Died: August 30, 1908

Place of Death: Biloxi, Mississippi

Age at time of Death: 86 years old

Cause of Death: Organic heart failure

Burial Place: Bellefontaine Cemetery, St. Louis, Missouri

 

[Pollaco]

Known to his men as "Old Straight".

 

[Pollaco]

He was stationed at Columbus, Kentucky and witnessed the Battle of Belmont. He then led a brigade at Island #10. He suceeded command of Charles Clarks division after Clarks wounding at Shiloh. He also led a brigade at Cornith, Perryville, and Murfreesboro. Stewart led a division in the Campaign Tullahoma and at Chickamauga and Chattanooga. As Lt. General he was assigned to replace Leonidas Polk. In the final stages of the war Stewart was in charge of the infantry and artillery in the Army of Tennessee.

 

[Pollaco]

A biography that's about Stewert states that he commanded a brigade in the 1st Geographical Division Department #2. Could someone explain what a geographical division is?

 

[Pollaco]

Here's a little known fact about Stewart, he was hit by a train on March 30, 1893.

 

[Luke Freet]

A biography that's about Stewert states that he commanded a brigade in the 1st Geographical Division Department #2. Could someone explain what a geographical division is?

Sounds like an honorary position to my ears.

 

[gentlemanrob]

Happy Birthday (October 2nd) Lt. General Alexander P. Stewart! Salutes remembering General Stewart on his birthday weekend.

 

[Luke Freet]

I recently got Sam Davis Elliott's biography. I came across an anecdote of him at Belmont. Stewart was commanding the Columbus batteries under Polk. His largest piece was a naval gun called the "Lady Polk", which he used to stop and repulse Grant's attack at Belmont. When the battle was over, his crew "requested permission to fire a load left in the gun at the close of the battery. Stewart denied the request, feeling it would be better to draw the load out , and Stewart left for his tent outside the fort. Polk then came by on a tour of inspection. The crew made the same request to Polk, who agreed, asking that it be fired up the river so he could see its range. As Stewart was entering his tent, he heard a loud explosion. Looking toward the bluff, he could see a dense cloud of black smoke rising from the gun position, and correctly surmised that the gun had exploded. The explosion killed eleven, and injured three others, including Polk, who was incapacitated for some time afterward". (Elliott, 23)

I've also heard from a friend who read through the book already, he got into riding bicycles in his later life. That's what he was doing when he got hit by that train. When asked why he had acted so carelessly around the railroad, he claimed it was because his wisdom teeth were coming out (probably a self deprecating joke referring to the fact he was an old dog getting into something usually learned by youngster).

Also, apparently, his last words were directed towards his pet dog: "Well, Duke, are you here?"

 

[Pollaco]

Several months after Stewart became a brigadier (Nov.8, 1861) him and his brigade joined John McCown's division. On April 1 Stewart's men joined Gen.Charles Clark's division in Polk's Corps. And later in Benjamin Cheatham's division (also in Polk's Corps)

 

[Pollaco]

That wound at Ezra Church was to the forehead on July 28, 1864.

 

[Pollaco]

In the Carolina Campaign Gen. Johnston placed the Army of Tennessee under Stewart's temporary command. In the final reorganization on April 9, 1865 Stewart reverted back to commanding Polks Old Corps, sometimes called the Army of Mississippi. Someone please correct me on this as I'm not real sure of the events.

 

[Luke Freet]

In the Carolina Campaign Gen. Johnston placed the Army of Tennessee under Stewart's temporary command. In the final reorganization on April 9, 1865 Stewart reverted back to commanding Polks Old Corps, sometimes called the Army of Mississippi. Someone please correct me on this as I'm not real sure of the events.

This is correct, but that corps he commands at the end also included men from Hardee's Command. All the old Polk's Corps was consolidated in Loring's Division (3599 men); the other two divisions, formerly garrison troops on the Georgia & South Carolina coasts, were under J. Patton Anderson (1722 men) & Edward Walthall (2990 men). Adding in 108 men attached to his headquarters, & 296 in the artillery battalion assigned to his formation, his Corps in the Army of the South numbered 8715 men as of the Bennett Place surrender.

 

[Gavrilo Sartorys]

A biography that's about Stewert states that he commanded a brigade in the 1st Geographical Division Department #2. Could someone explain what a geographical division is?

Actually, the First Geographical Division of Department No.2 was Major-General Polk's command, sometimes referred to as "District of Columbus". Its area comprised Western Kentucky, Northwestern Tennessee, a portion of Southeastern Missouri and also the post of New Madrid & Island No.10. Stewart was promoted to Brigadier-General in November 1861 and was placed at the head of a brigade at Columbus.

Stewart's Brigade was then assigned to McCown's Command (New Madrid defenses) in early March 1862 and was finally assigned to Polk's 1st Corps, Army of the Mississippi, one month later, just before the battle of Shiloh.

 

[USS ALASKA]

Soldier of Tennessee: General Alexander P. Stewart and the Civil War in the West by Sam Davis Elliott

General Alexander P. Stewart (1821-1908) has garnered little attention from historians. In this biography, Sam Davis Elliott removes Stewart from the shadows of history by tracing the life of this influential general, providing the first in-depth analysis of his critical role in the Civil War's western theater. A West Point graduate, Stewart served in the Army of Tennessee from its days as the Tennessee Provisional Army in 1861 to its final surrender in April 1865. He participated in nearly all the battles the army fought - including those at Belmont, Shiloh, Perryville, Murfreesboro, Chickamauga, Missionary Ridge, New Hope Church, and Spring Hill, and during the Atlanta campaign - rising from the rank of major to lieutenant general. Always a gallant fighter and a calm, confident leader, "Old Straight" - as he was soon known for his steadfastness in battle - took over General Leonidas Polk's command when Polk was killed near Marietta, Georgia, and eventually led the Army of Tennessee's battered remnant in its final stand against William Tecumseh Sherman at Bentonville. At the war's end, Stewart was the ranking Confederate officer from Tennessee, and at the time of his death in 1908 he was the ranking Confederate survivor. More than the story of one man, Soldier of Tennessee conveys the triumphs and failures of the Confederate effort in the West and a divided nation's efforts at reconciliation. As Elliott demonstrates, both the Volunteer State and the Army of Tennessee may have had more flamboyant soldiers fight under their banners, but none was more constant than "Old Straight."

Soldier of Tennessee: General Alexander P. Stewart and the Civil War in the West: Elliott, Sam Davis: 9780807123409: Amazon.com: Books

Soldier of Tennessee: General Alexander P. Stewart and the Civil War in the West [Elliott, Sam Davis] on Amazon.com. *FREE* shipping on qualifying offers. Soldier of Tennessee: General Alexander P. Stewart and the Civil War in the West

www.amazon.com

Cheers,
USS ALASKA

 

[Norman Dasinger Jr]

Old Streights

 

[Norman Dasinger Jr]

His defense at New Hope Church GA- with his son present - was masterful.
The son would address the General as 'Dad' and some of the soldiers started to do the same - in jest - during the battle
Since they were destroying Hooker's three divisions that day, they felt they could joke around before the rain -heavy rain- came