Joseph Stewart (January 29, 1822 – April 23, 1904) was an officer in the

United States Army The United States Army (USA) is the land service branch of the United States Armed Forces. It is one of the eight U.S. uniformed services, and is designated as the Army of the United States in the U.S. Constitution.Article II, section 2, cla ...

notable for serving as commander of

Fort Alcatraz Fort Alcatraz was a United States Army coastal fortification on Alcatraz Island near the mouth of San Francisco Bay in California, part of the Third System of fixed fortifications, although very different from most other Third System works. Init ...

, Fort Churchill and the

Department of Alaska Department of Alaska was the designation for the government of Alaska from its purchase by the United States of America in 1867 until its organization as the District of Alaska in 1884. During the department era, Alaska was variously under ...

. His name is occasionally seen as Jasper Stewart.

Biography

Early life

Joseph Stewart was born in

Columbia, Kentucky Columbia is a home rule-class city just above Russell Creek in Adair County, Kentucky, in the United States. The population was 4,452 at the 2010 census. Columbia is the seat of its county. History The area was settled by Daniel Trabue. The ...

on January 29, 1822, and graduated from the

U.S. Military Academy The United States Military Academy (USMA), also known metonymically as West Point or simply as Army, is a United States service academy in West Point, New York. It was originally established as a fort, since it sits on strategic high groun ...

at West Point in 1842. He served as a 2nd Lieutenant in the 1st U.S. Artillery and later the 3rd U.S. Artillery during the Mexican War. On January 3, 1856, he was promoted to

captain Captain is a title, an appellative for the commanding officer of a military unit; the supreme leader of a navy ship, merchant ship, aeroplane, spacecraft, or other vessel; or the commander of a port, fire or police department, election precinct, e ...

of Company H in the 3rd Artillery. In December 1859 Captain Stewart took command of

. In the years immediately preceding the

Civil War A civil war or intrastate war is a war between organized groups within the same state (or country). The aim of one side may be to take control of the country or a region, to achieve independence for a region, or to change government policies ...

, Stewart transformed the fort into the most powerful coastal defense in the west.The Long History of Alcatraz
/ref> It was also during Stewart's time on Alcatraz that it took on the role of a prison for the first time. 11 soldiers under Stewart's command were imprisoned there and soon other nearby forts were sending prisoners there too.

Pyramid Lake War

In 1860 a vigilante force was soundly defeated by

Paiute Indians Paiute (; also Piute) refers to three non-contiguous groups of indigenous peoples of the Great Basin. Although their languages are related within the Numic group of Uto-Aztecan languages, these three groups do not form a single set. The term "Pai ...

in a battle near Pyramid Lake in present-day

Nevada Nevada ( ; ) is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States, Western region of the United States. It is bordered by Oregon to the northwest, Idaho to the northeast, California to the west, Arizona to the southeast, and Utah to the east. N ...

. This defeat prompted the Federal government to dispatch a contingent of the U.S. Army to the area. Captain Stewart took command of the so-called "Carson Valley Expedition" composed of 200 regular army soldiers from the 3rd Artillery and 6th U.S. Infantry. Stewart was, however, subordinated to Col.

John C. Hays John Coffee "Jack" Hays (January 28, 1817 – April 21, 1883) was an American military officer. A captain in the Texas Rangers and a military officer of the Republic of Texas, Hays served in several armed conflicts from 1836 to 1848, including a ...

who was in command of a regiment of U.S. Volunteers. Hays and Stewart defeated the Paiutes in the

second Battle of Pyramid Lake The Second Battle of Pyramid Lake (also known as the Battle of Truckee River) took place in response to the U.S. defeat at the First Battle of Pyramid Lake. A well-organized force of militia and regulars, under the capable leadership of famed Tex ...

Fort Churchill

While Hays' volunteers disbanded shortly after the battle, Stewart's regulars remained in the area for some time. Stewart was ordered to construct a permanent army post in the area. Eventually, he chose a site along the

Carson River The Carson River is a northwestern List of Nevada rivers, Nevada river that empties into the Carson Sink, an endorheic basin. The main stem of the river is long although the addition of the East Fork makes the total length , traversing five co ...

which he suggested should be named in honor of General

Sylvester Churchill Sylvester Churchill (August 2, 1783 – December 7, 1862) was an American journalist and Regular Army officer. Early life Churchill was born in Woodstock, Vermont, the son of Joseph and Sarah (Cobb) Churchill. Educated in the schools of his hom ...

. The U.S. Army confirmed the site and name in August and construction of Fort Churchill began.Totton, Kathryn, ''Fort Churchill: Nevada Military Outpost of the 1860s'', 1981 Nevada Natural History Association, p. 16 Construction was completed in 1861 with Stewart as the post's first commander.

Civil War

During the

American Civil War The American Civil War (April 12, 1861 – May 26, 1865; also known by other names) was a civil war in the United States. It was fought between the Union ("the North") and the Confederacy ("the South"), the latter formed by states th ...

Stewart briefly returned to command Fort Alcatraz. In 1861 he was transferred to the defenses of Washington, DC and commanded the artillery in George A. McCall's division of the

Army of the Potomac The Army of the Potomac was the principal Union Army in the Eastern Theater of the American Civil War. It was created in July 1861 shortly after the First Battle of Bull Run and was disbanded in June 1865 following the surrender of the Confedera ...

from December 1861 to February 1862. From April to October 1862 he served as recruiting officer for San Francisco and was the Inspector General of the

Humboldt Military District During the American Civil War, Army reorganization created the Department of the Pacific on January 15, 1861. On December 12, 1861, the District of Humboldt was created, consisting of the counties of Sonoma, Napa, Mendocino, Trinity, Humboldt, ...

during the Winter of 1862/1863. He was chief of artillery for the

Department of the Pacific The Department of the Pacific or Pacific Department was a major command ( Department) of the United States Army from 1853 to 1858. It replaced the Pacific Division, and was itself replaced by the Department of California and the Department of O ...

from April to July 1863 and ended the war as recruiting officer for Salem MA from November to December 1865. On December 11, 1865, Stewart was promoted

Major Major (commandant in certain jurisdictions) is a military rank of commissioned officer status, with corresponding ranks existing in many military forces throughout the world. When used unhyphenated and in conjunction with no other indicators ...

in the 4th U.S. Artillery.Cullum's Register: Joseph Stewart
/ref>

Post Civil War

Following the Civil War, Stewart commanded various forts along the eastern United States including

Fort McHenry Fort McHenry is a historical American coastal pentagonal bastion fort on Locust Point, now a neighborhood of Baltimore, Maryland. It is best known for its role in the War of 1812, when it successfully defended Baltimore Harbor from an attack b ...

and

Fort Macon A fortification is a military construction or building designed for the defense of territories in warfare, and is also used to establish rule in a region during peacetime. The term is derived from Latin ''fortis'' ("strong") and ''facere'' ...

. He served as the fifth commander of the

, from January 4, 1873, to April 20, 1874, then returned to California in command of the

Presidio of San Francisco The Presidio of San Francisco (originally, El Presidio Real de San Francisco or The Royal Fortress of Saint Francis) is a park and former U.S. Army post on the northern tip of the San Francisco Peninsula in San Francisco, California, and is part o ...

from May 8 to June 17, 1875. From 1876 to 1879 Stewart was in command of Fort Canby engaged against Native Americans during the

Bannock War The Bannock War of 1878 was an armed conflict between the U.S. military and Bannock and Paiute warriors in Idaho and northeastern Oregon from June to August 1878. The Bannock totaled about 600 to 800 in 1870 because of other Shoshone peoples b ...

. On July 18, 1879, Stewart was promoted Lieutenant Colonel of the 3rd U.S. Artillery. He retired on August 25, 1879, and died in Berkeley, CA on April 23, 1904. He is buried at

San Francisco National Cemetery San Francisco National Cemetery is a United States national cemetery, located in the Presidio of San Francisco, California. Because of the name and location, it is frequently confused with Golden Gate National Cemetery, a few miles south of the ci ...

in the Presidio.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Stewart, Joseph Commanders of the Department of Alaska 1822 births 1904 deaths Burials in California People from Adair County, Kentucky United States Military Academy alumni People of Kentucky in the American Civil War Alcatraz Island