Alexander P. Stewart
Alexander Peter Stewart (October 2, 1821 – August 30, 1908) was a U.S. Army officer, college professor, general in the Confederate States Army during the American Civil War, and the Chancellor of the University of Mississippi.
Early life
Stewart was born in Rogersville, Tennessee. He graduated from the U.S. Military Academy in 1842 and was commissioned a second lieutenant in the 3rd U.S. Artillery. He resigned his commission in 1845 to become a professor of mathematics and experimental philosophy at Cumberland University in Lebanon, Tennessee[1], and later attained the same position at the University of Nashville.
Service in the American Civil War
At the start of the American Civil War, although he was a strong anti-secessionist Whig politically, Stewart accepted a commission as major in the artillery of the Tennessee Militia, and by November 8, 1861, he was a brigadier general in the Confederate States Army.
He initially commanded a brigade in the corps of General Leonidas Polk. He saw action in many of the campaigns of the Army of Tennessee, including the Battle of Chickamauga - in which he led a division, the Atlanta Campaign, the Franklin-Nashville Campaign, and the Carolinas Campaign.
He was promoted to major general on June 2, 1863 and lieutenant general on June 23, 1864, when he succeeded to the command of Polk's Corps. He led the corps to the end of the war, including at the Battle of Ezra Church - at which he was wounded - and the Battle of Nashville. Stewart's corps faired badly on the first day of the Battle of Nashville, and it broke on the second day when the troops to its left were forced from their position. Stewart was paroled with General Joseph E. Johnston's army at Greensboro, North Carolina, May 1, 1865.
Post-war life
After the war, Stewart moved to Missouri in 1869 and to Mississippi in 1874, where he served as the Chancellor of the University of Mississippi until 1886.
From 1890 to 1908, he was the commissioner of the Chickamauga and Chattanooga National Military Park.
He died in Biloxi, Mississippi, and is buried in Bellefontaine Cemetery, St. Louis, Missouri.
See also
References
- Eicher, John H., & Eicher, David J., Civil War High Commands, Stanford University Press, 2001, ISBN 0-8047-3641-3.
- Warner, Ezra J., Generals in Gray: Lives of the Confederate Commanders, Louisiana State University Press, 1959, ISBN 0-8071-0823-5.
- ^ Lebanon, Tennessee: A Tour of Our City (PDF). Lebanon/Wilson County Chamber of Commerce. Retrieved on February 5, 2007.
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