Walter Husted STEVENS

Background

STEVENS, Walter Husted was born on August 24, 1827 in Penn Yan, New York, United States, United States. Son of Samuel Stevens.

Education

Graduated from the United States Military Academy, 1848.

Career

Following his graduation in 1848 from the U.S. Military Academy, where he was fourth in a class of thirty-eight, he married a sister of the future Confederate States General Louis Hébert of Louisiana, and he became Southern in his outlook. He was commissioned in the Army Corps of Engineers. During the 1840s and 1850s, he was engaged in fortification repair in New Orleans, where he was superintending engineer for the U.S. Army in 1854-1856.

In 1853, he surveyed the Texas rivers and harbors, and from 1853 to 1857, he was a lighthouse inspector along the Texas coast. In 1860, he built the New Orleans custom house. He resigned from the army on March 2, 1861, and volunteered for the Confederate Army.

Stevens served on General P.G.T. Beauregard’s staff during the battle of First Manassas as a captain of engineers, where he also laid out the battle works. As chief engineer for the Army of Virginia, he laid out the fortifications for General Joseph E. Johnston's ) army at the battle of Seven Pines and the rest of the Peninsular campaign of 1862. Promoted to colonel, he supervised the strengthening of the defenses of Richmond in 1863-1864.

On August 28, 1864, he was promoted to brigadier general and was named chief engineer for the Army of Northern Virginia. He was responsible for the construction of the Petersburg defenses. Stevens surrendered at Appomattox and was paroled there.

After the war, he went to Mexico, where he was a superintendent and constructing engineer for a railroad which was being built between Mexico City and Vera Cruz.

Religion

"Peculiar institution" of slavery was not only expedient but also ordained by God and upheld in Holy Scripture.

Politics

Stands for preserving slavery, states' rights, and political liberty for whites. Every individual state is sovereign, even to the point of secession.

Connections

Father:

Samuel Stephens. Stevens