Isaac Stevens

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Isaac Stevens

Isaac Ingalls Stevens (1818-1862) - Born 28 Mar 1818 in North Andover, Massachusetts, the third child of Isaac & Hannah (Cummings) Stevens. Died 1 Sep 1862 at the Battle of Chantilly in Virginia During the U.S. Civil War. He was the first governor of Washington Territory, and served as a brigadier general in the Union Army during the U.S. Civil War. Fort Stevens in Oregon and Stevens County in Washington were named for him.

He attended Phillips Academy in Andover, entered the United States Military Academy at West Point in 1835 at age 16 and graduated first in the class of 1839. He was commissioned a second lieutenant in the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, "Totten's Engineer Corps".

He was a firm supporter of Franklin Pierce's candidacy for President of the United States in 1852. In 1853 he was rewarded by being named governor of the newly created Washington Territory. On the way to his new he mapped and surveyed a railroad route across the northern United States he spent most of 1853 surveying his way to Washington Territory. He assumed his post as governor in Nov 1853.

Stevens was a controversial governor in his time, and has become more controversial in retrospect. He used a careful combination of intimidation and force to compel the Native American tribes of Washington Territory to sign treaties that handed over most of their lands and rights to Stevens' government. When Stevens was met with resistance, he used the troops at his disposal to exact vengeance. His winter campaign against the Yakama tribe, and his execution of the Nisqually chieftain Leschi (for the crime of having killed Stevens' soldiers in open combat), among other deeds, led a number of powerful citizens in the territory to beg Pierce to remove Stevens. Territorial Judge Edward Lander and Ezra Meeker (an influential private citizen) were both vocal in opposing Stevens—Lander was arrested as a result, and Meeker was simply ignored. Pierce sent word to Stevens of his disapproval of Stevens' conduct, but refused to remove the governor. Those who opposed Stevens ultimately lost public support, as the majority of the citizens of Washington Territory saw Meeker as being on the side of the "Indians", and Stevens on the side of the white settlers.

As a result of this public perception, Stevens was popular enough to be elected the territory's delegate to Congress in 1857 and 1858. The tensions between the whites and the Native Americans would be left for others to resolve—Stevens is often charged with responsibility for the later conflicts in eastern Washington State and Idaho, especially the war fought by the United States against Chief Joseph and the Nez Perce, but these events were decades away when Isaac Stevens left Washington for good in 1857.

The treaties Stevens negotiated with the Native Americans in Washington proved to be a boon to the tribes, when in the mid-1970s the Boldt Decision interpreted a phrase in the treaties ("in common with") to mean that the treaty tribes were entitled to fully half of the entire salmon harvest.

[edit] Civil War When the Civil War began in 1861, Stevens was commissioned in the Army again, this time as Colonel of the 79th New York Volunteers, known as the Highlanders. He became a brigadier general on September 28, 1861, and fought at Port Royal. Stevens was promoted to major general on July 4, 1862, serving under Major General John Pope in the Northern Virginia Campaign and the Second Battle of Bull Run. He was killed in action at the Battle of Chantilly in Virginia while picking up the fallen regimental colors of his old regiment, shouting "Highlanders, my Highlanders, follow your general!" Charging with his troops while carrying the banner of Saint Andrew's Cross, Stevens was struck in the head by a bullet and died instantly. He was buried in Newport, Rhode Island.

Father: Isaac Stevens (-)

Mother: Hannah Cummings

Spouse:

• Margaret Lyman Hazard (-) married 8 Sep 1841, Newport, Rhode Island

Children:

• Hazard Stevens (1842-1918)- Medal of Honor winner in U.S. Civil War
• Virginia Stevens (-)
• Kate Stevens (-)
• Maude Stevens (-)
• Susan Stevens (-)

Assignments:

• (1835-1839) (Cadet) United States Military Academy
• (1847-1847) () Mexican War
• (1857-1861) Congressman from Washington Territory
• (1861-1861) (Col.) 79th Regiment of New York Volunteers, known as the Highlanders
• (1861-1862) (Brig. Gen., Sep 1861)

Personal Description: Height: Build: Hair Color: Eye Color: Born with physical imparements that today would be associated with a problematic pituitary gland.