Lieutenant-General Alexander Peter Stewart
Photo of Stewart taken during theAmerican Civil War
Born	(1821-10-02)October 2, 1821 Rogersville, Tennessee, US
Died	August 30, 1908(1908-08-30) (aged 86) Biloxi, Mississippi, US
Place of burial	Bellefontaine Cemetery St. Louis, Missouri
Allegiance	United States Confederate States of America
Branch	US Army Confederate States Army
Service years	1842–1845 (USA) 1861–1865 (CSA)
Rank	Second Lieutenant (USA) Lieutenant General (CSA)
Unit	3rd U.S. Artillery Regiment
Commands	2nd Brigade, 1st Division,Polk's Corps Stewart's Division,Buckner's Corps Third Corps, Army of Tennessee Army of Tennessee
Conflicts	American Civil War Battle of Belmont Battle of Shiloh Siege of Corinth Battle of Perryville Battle of Stones River Battle of Hoover's Gap Battle of Chickamauga Battle of Missionary Ridge Battle of Ezra Church Second Battle of Tilton Second Battle of Franklin Battle of Nashville
Other work	Professor (Cumberland University,University of Nashville) chancellor (University of Mississippi) park commissioner
Signature

Alexander Peter Stewart (October 2, 1821 – August 30, 1908) was aConfederate military officer during theAmerican Civil War and a college professor. He fought in many of the most significant battles in theWestern Theater of the war and briefly took command of theArmy of Tennessee in 1865.

Stewart was born inRogersville, Tennessee. He graduated from theUnited States Military Academy in 1842 (12th of 56 cadets) and was commissioned asecond lieutenant in the3rd U.S. Artillery Regiment. He resigned his commission on May 31, 1845^[1] to become a professor ofmathematics and experimental philosophy atCumberland University inLebanon, Tennessee,^[2] and later attained the same position at theUniversity of Nashville.

At the start of theAmerican Civil War in 1861, although he was a strong anti-secessionistWhig politically, Stewart accepted a commission as major in theartillery of the TennesseeMilitia on May 17. Shortly afterward, he entered the Confederate States Army on August 15 as a major of artillery.^[1]

Stewart was appointed abrigadier general on November 8 and assigned to command the 2ndBrigade, 2ndDivision, Columbus District, of the Confederate Department No. Two (the precursor to the Department of Tennessee), underLeonidas Polk. Stewart held this position from November 16 until December, when his brigade was transferred to the Department's First Geographical Division, until February 1862. His brigade was returned to western Kentucky, briefly being added toJohn P. McCown's division, leading the defenses of the town at theBattle of New Madrid before McCown ordered it evacuated and withdrew down the Mississippi River. On April 1, Stewart's men joinedCharles Clark's division, inLeonidas Polk's corps, ofAlbert Sidney Johnston'sArmy of Mississippi, just in time for theBattle of Shiloh. There, Stewart led his brigade in first-day attacks on the "Hornet's Nest" area in the center of the U.S. line.

Following Johnston's death, command of the Army of Mississippi fell toP.G.T. Beauregard for theSiege of Corinth, where Stewart was present. President Davis soon replaced Beauregard in favor ofBraxton Bragg, who transported the army to Chattanooga, Tennessee, in preparation for his invasion of Kentucky. In theConfederate Heartland Offensive, Stewart's brigade fought at theBattle of Perryville inBenjamin Cheatham's division of the army's right wing, commanded by Polk. The Army of Mississippi became theArmy of Tennessee near the end of 1862, and Stewart and his brigade served continued to serve in Cheatham's Division in Polk's First Corps at theBattle of Stones River. Stewart was promoted to divisional command and to major general on June 2, 1863,^[1] assigned toWilliam J. Hardee's corps for theTullahoma Campaign. His division unsuccessfully opposed GeneralGeorge Henry Thomas's corps at theBattle of Hoover's Gap before his division was assigned toSimon Bolivar Buckner's corps and fought at theBattle of Chickamauga, Stewart being wounded in the fight on September 19.^[1] Before the second day, Buckner's corps was assigned to the army's left wing to be commanded by the recently arrivingJames Longstreet. Following Chickamauga, Bragg demoted Buckner and left for Virginia on medical leave; Longstreet left soon after to besiege U.S.-controlled Knoxville. Stewart's division remained at Chattanooga and was assigned toJohn C. Breckinridge's corps, for whom he and his men fought on the extreme left of the Confederate line at theBattle of Missionary Ridge in November 1863.

Stewart fought at the battles ofRocky Face Ridge,Resaca, andNew Hope Church, commanding a division inJohn Bell Hood's corps ofJoseph E. Johnston's Army of Tennessee early in theAtlanta campaign in 1864. Stewart was then assigned command of the Third Corps, replacingWilliam Loring who had assumed temporary command in June for theBattle of Kennesaw Mountain after Polk was killed by artillery on Pine Mountain just two weeks prior. He was appointed temporaryLieutenant General on June 23, 1864.^[1] Stewart next took part in theBattle of Peachtree Creek, taking possession of the home of Georgia's Quartermaster General,Ira Roe Foster, as his headquarters.Georgia Historical Commission marker 060–90, erected at that location, states: "Site of the Ira R. Foster house which was occupied as headquarters by Gen. A. P. Stewart, [CSA] during military operations N. of Atlanta, July 16–21, 1864. From here were issued the orders directing his troops in the Battle of Peachtree Creek, July 20."^[3] Stewart led the Third Corps at theBattle of Ezra Church, where he was wounded in the forehead on July 28.^[1]

Stewart continued to lead the Third Corps during theFranklin-Nashville Campaign in the fall of 1864, participating in theBattle of Franklin that November and theBattle of Nashville in December. Stewart's corps fared 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. What was left of the Army of Tennessee was sent east and fought in theCarolinas campaign in 1865, once again under the command ofGen.Joseph E. Johnston, who placed the Army of Tennessee (by this time fewer than 5,000 men) under Stewart's command.

Stewart surrendered the army on April 26 and was paroled atGreensboro, North Carolina on May 1.^[1]

After the war, Stewart moved to Missouri in 1869 and became an insurance executive. He then moved to Mississippi in 1874, where he served as the Chancellor of theUniversity of Mississippi until 1886. From 1890 to 1908, he was the commissioner of theChickamauga and Chattanooga National Military Park. He was injured when he was hit by a train on March 30, 1893, and returned to Missouri in 1906.^[1]

By 1905, Stewart was described as "of advanced years, but clear of intellect" and "deeply interested...for several years" in the teachings oftheWatch Tower; that magazine reported Stewart's baptism following a talk byCharles Taze Russell.^[4] Russell delivered the funeral sermon in St. Louis^[5] following Stewart's death inBiloxi, Mississippi in 1908. Stewart is buried inBellefontaine Cemetery,St. Louis, Missouri.^[1]

A statue of Stewart erected in 1919 is located outside the Hamilton County Tn. Courthouse in Chattanooga, Tennessee.

• List of American Civil War generals (Confederate)
• Rogersville, Tennessee
• Cumberland University
• University of Nashville
• University of Mississippi

• Eicher, John H., andDavid J. Eicher,Civil War High Commands. Stanford: Stanford University Press, 2001.ISBN 978-0-8047-3641-1.
• Evans, Clement A., ed.Confederate Military History: A Library of Confederate States History. 12 vols. Volume 8. Porter, J. D.Tennessee. Confederate Publishing Company, 1899.OCLC 833588. Retrieved January 20, 2011.
• Sifakis, Stewart.Who Was Who in the Civil War. New York: Facts On File, 1988.ISBN 978-0-8160-1055-4.
• Warner, Ezra J.Generals in Gray: Lives of the Confederate Commanders. Baton Rouge: Louisiana State University Press, 1959.ISBN 978-0-8071-0823-9.0823-5.

• Media related toAlexander Peter Stewart at Wikimedia Commons

• 1821 births
• 1908 deaths
• Bible Student movement
• Confederate States Army lieutenant generals
• People from Rogersville, Tennessee
• People of Tennessee in the American Civil War
• United States Army officers
• United States Military Academy alumni

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