Early career In January 1776 he was appointed
captain of Company F,
3rd Pennsylvania Battalion. However, in May Stewart was promoted to
major and became
aide-de-camp to
Horatio Gates That November, Congress voted Stewart a $100 sword as recognition of his services. One
Continental Army private recalled that the ladies of Philadelphia called the good-looking Stewart the "Irish Beauty". Another observer described him as, "of fair, florid complexion, vivacious, intelligent and well-educated, and, it was said, was the handsomest man in the American army". On June 17, 1777, Stewart was named commander of the Pennsylvania State Regiment, which later became the
13th Pennsylvania Regiment. In another letter to Gates, he wrote of his fellow Pennsylvanian
Anthony Wayne having to dig trenches, "We are throwing up a few works at
Wilmington, where Wayne is like a mad bear, it falling to his brigade. I believe he heartily wishes all engineers at the devil."
Philadelphia campaign At the
Battle of Brandywine on September 11, 1777, the Pennsylvania State Regiment fought with the
2nd,
3rd,
4th,
10th, and
14th Virginia Regiments in
George Weedon's Brigade. Another authority wrote that the 2nd Virginia Brigade consisted of the 2nd,
6th, 10th, and 14th Virginia, but it is possible that some units were attached and others detached. That day, Washington with 11,000 men offered battle to British General
Sir William Howe's 12,500 troops. While 5,000 British and Hessians under
Wilhelm von Knyphausen threatened the American center, Howe took 7,500 men in a wide turning movement that crossed the Brandywine beyond the American right flank. Belatedly detecting Howe's column, Washington deployed the divisions of
John Sullivan,
Lord Stirling, and
Adam Stephen to halt the attempted envelopment. After severe fighting, Howe's force cracked the American line. Leaving Wayne to hold off Knyphausen, Washington ordered the division of
Nathanael Greene to block Howe. After his brigade endured a three or four-mile double-time march in 45 minutes, One of Agnew's regiments, the
64th Foot was roughly treated, losing 47 of its 420 men in the vicious firefight that followed. The Pennsylvania State Regiment was evidently part of the thrown-forward right flank. One witness recalled the unit's colonel, "Stewart on foot, in its rear, animating his men." An officer in the regiment wrote that, "Our regiment fought at one stand about an hour under incessant fire, and yet the loss was less than at
Long Island; neither were we so near each other as at
Princeton, our common distance being about 50 yards." With the assistance of some artillery, the British finally forced the Americans back, but the exhausted victors did not pursue in the dark. Stewart led a detachment of his regiment at the
Battle of Germantown on October 4, 1777. As Greene's wing advanced on the British positions, Stewart's unit covered Weedon's left flank where a gap had developed between that brigade and
Alexander McDougall's Connecticut Brigade. After driving off two British light infantry companies, his men captured an earthwork near Luken's Mill. He wrote Gates, "I took a little redoubt with three Pieces of Cannon from them". He noted that, "It was cursed Hot work for it before they left them". He noted that his men started fighting from Germantown and penetrated the British lines as far as the Market House. Another officer recalled that the Pennsylvania State Regiment had overcome all resistance in its front. When it was attacked on its left and rear, "Gen. Steven [Stephen] ordered Col. Stewart to evacuate the ground". On November 12, 1777, the regiment was renamed the
13th Pennsylvania Regiment.
Monmouth After
Sir Henry Clinton evacuated Philadelphia and marched toward New York,
George Washington moved his army northeast from
Valley Forge, Pennsylvania. After crossing the Delaware at
Coryell's Ferry, the Americans reached
Hopewell, New Jersey, on June 23. From there, they moved to intercept Clinton's retreat. Washington appointed his second-in-command
Charles Lee (general) to lead his advance guard. Lee's division included
Varnum's 300-man Brigade under John Durkee with two cannons,
William Grayson's 600-strong detachment with two guns,
William Maxwell's 1,000-man New Jersey Brigade with two cannons,
Henry Jackson's 300-strong detachment,
Charles Scott's 1,440-strong command with four guns, and
Anthony Wayne's 1,000-man command with two guns. There were seven special detachments of troops averaging about 350 men each and these were probably drawn from their parent brigades and other units. Scott led four detachments while Wayne led three detachments. Wayne's command included detachments led by James Wesson of
Ebenezer Learned's Massachusetts Brigade,
Henry Livingston Jr. of
Enoch Poor's New Hampshire and New York brigade, and Stewart. Very early on June 28, 1778,
Wilhelm von Knyphausen's division set out from Monmouth Court House, followed a few hours later by Cornwallis' division. Lee neglected to scout the area and announced to his subordinates that he had no plan of battle other than to act according to circumstances. He only began moving forward at 7:00 am with 5,000 troops to bring on the
Battle of Monmouth. When Lee began to threaten the British rear guard, Clinton turned back to help with powerful forces. After some tentative attacks, Lee's troops began withdrawing in confusion but not panic. Clinton rushed in pursuit. Washington met Lee's retreating division late in the morning and took measures to halt Clinton's advance. Washington relieved Lee of command, but later allowed him to patch together a defensive line with the available troops. Lee put Varnum's Brigade, now under the command of
Jeremiah Olney behind a hedgerow. Livingston's detachment filed into line on Olney's left. On the left flank of the position, Washington asked Stewart and
Nathaniel Ramsey, who took over from the wounded Wesson, to hold off the British until he could get the main army in position. The two readily agreed. Soon after,
Anthony Wayne appeared and ordered the two detachments to hold a thick wood. Ramsey formed on the extreme left with Stewart to his right. Lee's chief of artillery,
Eleazer Oswald placed two cannons on Olney's right and two more in support of Stewart and Ramsey. As the 1st Guards Battalion came abreast of the woods, the Americans riddled their flank and dropped British Colonel Henry Trelawney and 40 guardsmen. But the crack
Brigade of Guards and two companies of the 1st Grenadier Battalion stormed into the woods. Early in the action, Stewart went down, shot in the groin, and was carried to the rear. The outnumbered Americans were pressed back from the trees and attacked by the
16th Light Dragoons in the open. Ramsey was wounded and captured by the dragoons while the Americans made a dash for the bridge across the ravine.
Command of the 2nd Pennsylvania Regiment '' by
John Trumbull, showing Colonels
Alexander Hamilton,
John Laurens, and Walter Stewart Stewart assumed command of the
2nd Pennsylvania Regiment on July 1, 1778, as the senior officer remaining after enlistments ran out for most of the men of the 13th and the remaining men were consolidated with the 2nd Regiment. He earned a good reputation with his soldiers by paying close attention to their needs. In Fall 1778, he traveled to Philadelphia to secure some items for his troops. He wrote his friend Anthony Wayne, perhaps with tongue in cheek, that the ladies, "have really got the art of throwing themselves into the most wanton and amorous postures", when he was around. At the time, Stewart and other Pennsylvanians reassured the soldiers that their problems were no worse than in other units. Stewart then spoke with the Connecticut officers on behalf of the disgruntled rank and file. Connecticut private Joseph Plumb Martin recalled that Stewart was highly regarded by his own men. Afterward, the
Pennsylvania Line was reorganized, and Stewart was placed in charge of a new combat unit.
Green Spring and Yorktown On July 6, 1781, Stewart led a Pennsylvania battalion at the
Battle of Green Spring. At first, his troops formed the reserve of Wayne's 500-man advance guard. After being reinforced to 900 men by the addition of one light infantry and two Pennsylvania battalions, the Americans walked into a British ambush. Outnumbered seven-to-one, Wayne ordered a counterattack. This bold action and the approach of nightfall allowed the Americans to escape with only 28 killed, 99 wounded, and 12 missing. The British suffered 75 casualties. In October 1781, Stewart participated in the
siege of Yorktown as commander of the 1st Pennsylvania Battalion in General Wayne's brigade of
Von Steuben's division.
Newburgh conspiracy Stewart retired from the army on January 1, 1783. However, Washington convinced him to stay on as
Inspector General of the Northern Department. Washington wrote to members of Congress that the officers' claims were legitimate; nevertheless, Congress defeated a measure that would have given full pay for five years as compensation for the promised pension. At the officers' meeting Washington appealed to his audience not to carry out "any measures which, viewed in the calm light of reason, will lessen the dignity and sully the glory you have hitherto maintained." At the end of his speech he took out a letter to read. Unable to read it, he took out his spectacles and said, "Gentlemen, you must pardon me. I have grown gray in your service and now find myself growing blind". Some of his officers were reduced to tears. Armstrong later complained that a "timid wretch" betrayed the plan "to the only man from whom he was to have kept it... the Commander in Chief", who was not to have been consulted until later. According to historian
Robert K. Wright Jr., the "wretch" to whom Armstrong referred was either Colonel
John Brooks or Walter Stewart.
Later career and death In 1783, Stewart finally retired from the army later with the
brevet rank of
brigadier general. He settled in Philadelphia across the street from George and Martha Washington and became a successful businessman and
major general of the state
militia. Stewart died on June 16, 1796, in that year's deadly
yellow fever epidemic and was interred in the burial ground of Old St. Paul's Episcopal Church in Philadelphia. ==Family==