Alexander Peter Stewart was born on October 2, 1821, in Rogersville, Tennessee, to William and Elizabeth Stewart. His father was a merchant who owned $3,000 of real estate by 1850. He graduated from the United States Military Academy in 1842 and received a commission as a 2^nd lieutenant in the 3^rd United States Artillery.

 

He resigned on May 31, 1845, to accept the position of professor mathematics and experimental philosophy at Cumberland University. He married Harriet B. Chase in Trumbull County, Ohio, and they had at least three children: Robert, born around 1846; Alphonso, born around 1848; and Alexander, born around 1859. By 1860, he owned $7,000 of real estate and $6,160 of personal property.

 

He supported the Whig Party during the antebellum era, and he opposed secession during the winter of 1860-61. In the spring of 1861, however, he sided with the Confederacy, and he accepted a commission as major in the Tennessee militia on May 17. He became a major in the Confederate artillery on August 15, 1861, and he was promoted to brigadier general on November 8.

 

He took part in the Battle of Shiloh, the siege of Corinth, the Battle of Perryville, the Battle of Chickamauga, the Battle of Missionary Ridge, and the Battle of Nashville. He was promoted to major general on June 2, 1863. He was wounded on September 19, 1863, during the Battle of Chickamauga and again on July 28, 1864, during the Battle of Ezra Church. He surrendered on April 26, 1865, as party of the Army of Tennessee.

 

Stewart returned to Tennessee after the war and resumed his work as a professor. By 1870, he owned $6,000 of real estate and $2,500 of personal property. He moved to Missouri before settling in Oxford, Mississippi, around 1874. He served as Chancellor of the University of Mississippi from 1874 until 1886, and he acted as the commissioner of the Chickamauga and Chattanooga National Military Park from 1890 until 1908. He died in Biloxi, Mississippi, on August 30, 1908.

 

Image: Alexander Peter Stewart (courtesy Wikicommons)

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