Stewart, William S., Papers, 1861-1864 (C2991)

1 roll of microfilm

MICROFILM

INTRODUCTION

Letters and reports by the captain of Company K, 11th Regiment, Missouri Volunteer Infantry, describing troop movements, engagements, and camps from January 1861 to December 1862. The papers include ordnance reports from Iuka, Corinth, Vicksburg, and St. Louis.

DONOR INFORMATION

In October 1958 this collection was loaned by Norma L. Peterson, Division of Social Studies, Adams State College, Alamosa, Colorado, for microfilming by the Division of State Archives and Public Records, Denver, Colorado. A copy of this microfilm made its way to the State Historical Society of Missouri Newspaper Library where it was subsequently transferred to the Manuscript Collection on 14 October 1971 (SHS Accession No. 888).

BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCH

William S. Stewart was the son of Samuel Stewart of Mt. Carmel, Franklin County, Indiana. He was a practicing attorney in St. Louis, Missouri, when the Civil War began. He enlisted in April 1861 and was elected 1st Lieutenant of Company M, 1st Regiment, Union Guard, under Colonel Frank P. Blair, Jr.

During the summer of 1861 his regiment was reorganized, and Stewart was made captain of Company K, 1st Missouri Rifle Regiment, which became the 11th Missouri Volunteer Infantry. From December 1861 to February 1862, Stewart served as Judge Advocate for the Army at Cape Girardeau, Missouri.

In November 1862 Stewart took a staff position as commander of outposts for the division; he was in charge of outposts and picket lines for nine regiments and three batteries, a line about eight miles in length. Stewart remained the captain of Company K until March 1864 when they were demobilized in St. Louis, Missouri. His activities after the war are unknown.

SCOPE AND CONTENT NOTE

All of the thirty-eight letters in this collection were written to Stewart's parents between 13 January 1861 and 4 December 1862. The 1863-1864 documents are ordnance reports. The collection concludes with a tribute to Stewart's home state of Indiana.

The correspondence is principally patriotic prose, but mixed with this sentiment are clear descriptions of troop movements, camp sites and arrangements, duty assignments, skirmishes and battles. During the period of the correspondence, Company K served in Missouri at Camp Jackson, St. Louis, along the Mississippi River, and at Rolla, Cape Girardeau, Fredericktown, New Madrid, and Point Pleasant. They fought at Pittsburg Landing (Shiloh), Tennessee, and Iuka and Corinth, Mississippi. Stewart described the performance of his regiment and allocated praise and blame to his commanding officers. The beginning targets include a calendar of documents.

INDEX TERMS

These index terms are the subjects, people, places, etc. under which this collection is listed in all available indexes at The State Historical Society of Missouri-Columbia. If you are interested in a specific index term, please contact the reference staff.

Index Terms	Location
Blair, Francis Preston, Jr. (1821-1875)	roll 1
Civil War--Alabama	roll 1
Civil War--Battle of Corinth, Mississippi	roll 1
Civil War--Battle of Fredericktown, Missouri	roll 1
Civil War--Battle of Iuka, Mississippi	roll 1
Civil War--Battle of Pittsburg Landing	roll 1
Civil War--Battle of Vicksburg	roll 1
Civil War--Camp Ellsworth, Franklin County, Missouri	roll 1
Civil War--Camp Fremont	roll 1
Civil War--Camp Jackson	roll 1
Civil War--Correspondence	roll 1
Civil War--Mississippi	roll 1
Civil War--Mississippi River	roll 1
Civil War--Missouri, New Madrid	roll 1
Civil War--Missouri, Point Pleasant	roll 1
Civil War--Missouri, Rolla	roll 1
Civil War--Missouri, St. Louis	roll 1
Civil War--Ordnance and ordnance stores	roll 1
Civil War--Tennessee	roll 1
Civil War--Transportation	roll 1
Courts martial and courts of inquiry	roll 1
Lyon, Nathaniel (1818-1861)	roll 1
Missouri, St. Louis	roll 1
Missouri, Union Guard, 1st Regiment	roll 1
Missouri. Infantry, 11th Regiment, Volunteers, Company K	roll 1
Pope, John (1822-1892)	roll 1
Rosecrans, William Starke (1819-1898)	roll 1
Stewart, William S.	roll 1