Many in this area are familiar with the statue of Lt. Gen. Alexander P. Stewart in front of the Hamilton County Courthouse. Said to be a lifelike depiction of the general, it gazes benignly down on the occasional visitor to that part of the lawn. The green verdigris does not show the red hair and freckles that reflected Stewart’s Scots-Irish descent. Few ask why, of all the Civil War veterans connected to Chattanooga, Stewart graces the front of our courthouse. The answer lies, in part, in what occurred in the Chattanooga area in 1863.
Stewart was born in Rogersville, Tenn., in 1821, and moved with his family to Winchester, Tenn., when he was about 10 years of age. From Winchester, he went to the United States Military Academy, graduating in the class of 1842. Stewart left the army before the Mexican War, and became well-known as a teacher of mathematics related subjects at Cumberland University in Lebanon, Tennessee. Stewart opposed secession and never owned slaves, but offered his sword to his state when Tennessee left the Union. Stewart fought for the Confederacy, most notably at Shiloh, Perryville, and Murfreesboro.
When the Confederate Army of Tennessee retreated into the Chattanooga area in July, 1863, Stewart commanded a division of primarily Tennessee troops. Thrown into the Battle of Chickamauga mid-day on September 19, 1863, Stewart launched a fierce counter-attack that demonstrated superb tactical skill, blunting a dangerous Federal attack and piercing the Union line all the way to the Dyer Tanyard. His troops were hotly engaged on September 20, contributing to the eventual Confederate victory.
At Chattanooga, Stewart’s troops fortified a position in Chattanooga Valley until withdrawn to the top of Missionary Ridge, holding a line from Bragg Reservation to Rossville. Stewart did not have sufficient men to hold that length of line, and his division was badly beaten when attacked by elements of four Federal divisions on November 25, 1863. When his line was pierced, he conducted a skillful retreat across South Chickamauga Creek, saving his men to fight another day.
A man of quiet competence and a devout Presbyterian, Stewart was known as “Old Straight,” either reflecting his uprightness or his days teaching mathematics. In the first part of the Atlanta Campaign, Stewart fought with competence and bravery, so that when Lt. Gen. Leonidas Polk was killed on June 14, 1864, Stewart was elevated to command his corps, being deemed as the most qualified of the major generals of the Army of Tennessee for the post. Stewart completed the war in corps command, fighting through the Atlanta Campaign, advancing into Tennessee to Franklin and Nashville, and surrendering with General Johnston and the remnant of the Army of Tennessee in North Carolina in April, 1865.