Carter L. Stevenson

Carter Littlepage Stevenson
Born (1817-09-21)September 21, 1817
Fredericksburg, Virginia
Died August 15, 1888(1888-08-15) (aged 70)
Caroline County, Virginia
Place of burial Confederate Cemetery, Fredericksburg, Virginia
Allegiance United States United States of America
Confederate States of America Confederate States of America
Service/branch  United States Army
 Confederate States Army
Years of service 1838–61 (U.S.A), 1861–65 (C.S.A)
Rank Captain USA
Major General CSA
Battles/wars Second Seminole War
Mexican-American War
-Battle of Palo Alto
- Battle of Resaca de la Palma
Third Seminole War
Utah War
American Civil War
- Battle of Perryville
- Battle of Champion's Hill
- Siege of Vicksburg
- Atlanta Campaign
- Battle of Nashville
- Carolinas Campaign

Carter Littlepage Stevenson, Jr. (September 21, 1817 – August 15, 1888) was a career military officer, serving in the United States Army in several antebellum wars and then in the Confederate States Army as a general in the Western Theater of the American Civil War.

Early life and career

Stevenson was born to a prominent family in Fredericksburg, Virginia. His father and namesake served as the Commonwealth of Virginia's attorney for Fredericksburg. Carter Stevenson was an 1838 graduate of the United States Military Academy, receiving a commission as a brevet second lieutenant in the 5th Infantry Regiment and assigned to garrison duty in Wisconsin. Two years later, he was promoted to first lieutenant and participated in the Second Seminole War in Florida. He married Martha Silvery Griswold at Fredericksburg on June 15, 1842. They had four children, but their first two died in infancy.

Transferred to Texas, Stevenson served on frontier duty until the Mexican-American War. He fought with distinction in the battles of Palo Alto and Resaca de la Palma, and participated in several other fights before returning to the United States at posts in Mississippi, Indian Territory, and Texas. He helped explore parts of the proposed Southern route for the Pacific railroad, often skirmishing with Apache Indians.

In 1856–57, Stevenson again was in combat in Florida, this time in the Third Seminole War, fighting in the battles of Big Cypress Swamp and Bowleytown. By now a veteran warrior, Stevenson returned to the West and fought in the Utah War. During his stay in the Utah Territory, Stevenson joined Rocky Mountain Lodge #205 of the Freemasons. He later returned to routine garrison duty on the frontier until 1861.

Civil War

Stevenson, as with many other officers from Virginia stationed in the West, returned home when the state seceded from the Union in early 1861. He rendered his services to the governor and received a commission as a lieutenant colonel in the Confederate army. He was soon promoted to colonel and given command of the 53rd Virginia Infantry at the recommendation of Pierre G. T. Beauregard. When openings were created with Beauregard's transfer of several officers to serve with him in the Western Theater, Stevenson was promoted to brigadier general in February 1862. On March 15, he reported to General Benjamin Huger and assigned to guard the Wilmington and Weldon Railroad in Virginia. However, this duty was short-lived, as Stevenson was sent to East Tennessee and given command of a division.

When Federals seized the Cumberland Gap, Stevenson, exercising independent command, led a Confederate force that captured the Union garrison at Munfordsville, Kentucky and compelled Gen. George W. Morgan's withdrawal. In July, Stevenson's division helped pursue the Union forces into Kentucky, where he combined his forces in the Department of East Tennessee with Edmund Kirby Smith, serving under Smith during the return trip to the Confederate base at Murfreesboro, Tennessee. Recognized again for his leadership ability, he was promoted to major general in October 1862 and led his division at the Battle of Perryville.

In December, Braxton Bragg sent Stevenson with 10,000 men to reinforce John C. Pemberton's force at Vicksburg, Mississippi, which was threatened by a Union army under Ulysses S. Grant. His division bore the brunt of fighting at the Battle of Champion Hill. The main Federal assault (nearly 25,000 troops) was against Stevenson's line, held by barely 6,500 men. After stubborn resistance, Stevenson finally withdrew when his lines began breaking. When Pemberton's force was defeated at the Battle of Big Black River Bridge, Stevenson (whose men had seen no significant action in the battle) commanded the retreating columns while General Pemberton hastened to Vicksburg to prepare the defenses of the city. During the Siege of Vicksburg, Stevenson commanded the right of the entire Confederate defensive line. When Pemberton surrendered the army on July 4, 1863, Stevenson briefly became a prisoner of war before receiving a parole.

General Stevenson reported to the Army of Tennessee at Chattanooga, Tennessee, and was given command of a division in William J. Hardee's corps, stationed on the right flank guarding Lookout Mountain. He withdrew his troops after the Battle of Lookout Mountain and destroyed the bridges over Chickamauga Creek and other waterways to delay the advance of Joseph Hooker's Union corps. He reinforced the main Confederate battle line on Missionary Ridge just before the Battle of Chattanooga. During the 1864 Atlanta Campaign, Stevenson's division was in John Bell Hood's corps and fought in the battles around Atlanta, including Resaca, Kennesaw Mountain and Peachtree Creek. When General Hood was elevated to command of the army, Stevenson temporarily assumed command of Hood's corps.

During the Tennessee Campaign, Stevenson commanded a division in Stephen D. Lee's corps in the center of the line at the Battle of Nashville. When Lee was wounded, he took charge of organizing and leading the retreat. His division had suffered enormous casualties and had been unable to recruit significant numbers of replacements. Down to approximately 2,600 men, the depleted division participated in the Carolinas Campaign against William T. Sherman, including the Battle of Bentonville. For the second time in the war, Stevenson surrendered to the Federals when Joseph E. Johnston surrendered his army in April 1865 to Sherman. Stevenson again was paroled and sent home.

Postbellum activities

After the war, he was occupied as a civil and mining engineer until his death in Caroline County, Virginia. He was buried in the Confederate Cemetery in Fredericksburg.

In 1914, Maj. Gen. Carter L. Stevenson was commemorated with a marble bust at the Vicksburg National Military Park.

See also

References

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