Walter Stewart

Who was Walter Stewart?

Walter Stewart was born in Ireland and began his military career as captain of a Pennsylvania infantry company at the beginning of the American Revolutionary War. He served as an aide de camp to Horatio Gates for a year with the rank of major. Given command of the Pennsylvania State Regiment, which later became the 13th Pennsylvania Regiment, Stewart led his troops with distinction at Brandywine and Germantown in 1777. Again showing bravery, he was wounded while leading a detachment at the Battle of Monmouth in the summer of 1778.

Because of his strikingly good looks, the ladies of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania called him the "Irish Beauty". He helped cool tensions during a 1780 mutiny of the Connecticut Line. He wed Deborah McClenichan in 1781 before going south with the army to fight in the Siege of Yorktown. He was deeply involved in the Newburgh Conspiracy. After a term as Inspector General he retired from the army at the beginning of 1783. After the war he became a successful Philadelphia businessman and general of militia. He died on 16 June 1796 during an outbreak Yellow Fever.