Highlanders Follow Your General

Union Brigadier General Isaac Ingalls Stevens was killed in the Battle of Chantilly September 1^st 1862.

Isaac Ingalls Stevens was born in Andover, Massachusetts March 25^th 1818.  He graduated 1839 from the United States Military Academy at West Point at the top of his class.  He entered the Army Corps of Engineers and was promoted to First Lieutenant by 1840.  During the Mexican American War Stevens saw action at the Battles of Cerro Gordo, Vera Cruz, Churubusco, Chapultepec and others.  He would write a book about his experiences in 1851.  On March 17^th 1853 Stevens was named the Governor of the newly created Washington Territory.  On his way to his new post Stevens made a survey across the prairie for a possible railroad route.  He was elected to and served the Territory in the United States Congress from 1857 to 1858.

When the Union was defeated at the First Battle of Bull Run [First Manassas] Stevens accepted a commission as the Colonel of the 79^th New York Infantry, which was known as “the Cameron Highlanders”.  He was appointed Brigadier General September 28^th 1861 and led men at the Battles of Port Royal and Secessionville.  Stevens’ men were transferred to the IX Corps and made part of Union Major General John Pope’s Army, where they fought in the Second Battle of Bull Run [Second Manassas].  At the Battle of Chantilly on September 1^st 1862 Stevens raised the fallen regimental colors of his old 79^th New York and shouted at the men, "Highlanders, my Highlanders, follow your general!"  As he charged ahead of his troops Stevens was hit by a bullet in the temple and died instantly.  His body was brought to Newport, Rhode Island and buried in the Island Cemetery there.

To The Top Of Mount Rainier

Union General Hazard Stevens, who received the Medal of Honor for service at the Battle of Fort Huger died October 11th 1918.


Hazard Stevens was born June 9th 1842 in Newport, Rhode Island the son of Isaac I and Margaret [Hazard] Stevens. The family moved to Olympia, Washington in 1854, when Stevens father become governor of the Washington Territory. At the beginning of the Civil War Stevens volunteered in the 79th New York Highlanders and received a Captain’s commission. He was wounded September 1st 1862 at the Battle of Chantilly. After recovering Stevens was promoted to Colonel, with command in the Third Division of the 9th Corps. He received the Medal of Honor for his contribution to the capture of the Confederate held Fort Huger on April 19th 1863 in Virginia. He was brevetted to Brigadier General in the United States Volunteers.

Following the war Stevens returned to Washington, where he worked for the Oregon Steam Navigation Company. On August 17th 1870 he and Marshall F Moore were the first documented men to ever climb Mount Rainier. Steven joined the bar in 1871. He moved to Dorchester, Massachusetts in 1874 becoming a member of the MA State Legislature, and running unsuccessfully for the Congress. In latter life he become a writer. Stevens died in 1819 and is buried in Island Cemetery in Newport, Rhode Island.