Isaac Ingalls Stevens (25 March 1818 – 1 September 1862) was Governor of the Washington Territory (D) from 25 November 1853 to 11 August 1857, preceding LaFayette McMullen, and a member of the US House of Representatives from Washington's at-large district from 4 March 1857 to 3 March 1861, succeeding James Patton Anderson and preceding William H. Wallace. Stevens was also a US Army Brigadier-General and commander of the 79th New York Volunteer Infantry during the American Civil War, and he was killed at Chantilly.
Biography[]
Isaac Ingalls Stevens was born in North Andover, Massachusetts in 1818, and he graduated from West Point at the top of his class in 1839. He was promoted to Lieutenant in the US Army in 1840, and he fought in the Mexican-American War, being wounded at the Battle of Molino del Rey. In 1852, he supported Franklin Pierce's candidacy for President of the United States due to his affiliation with the Democratic Party, and Pierce appointed Stevens as Governor of the Washington Territory in 1853. Stevens forced the Native Americans to cede their lands and rights to the government after intimidating them into signing treaties with the US government, making him a controversial governor. From 1855 to 1858, he fought against Washington's Yakima tribe, and he was elected to the US House of Representatives in 1857, serving in the US Congress until 1861.
When the American Civil War broke out in 1861, Stevens was commissioned into the US Army, and he became colonel of the 79th New York Volunteer Infantry. On 28 September 1861, he was promoted to the rank of Brigadier-General, and he fought in the expedition to Port Royal, South Carolina before being transferred to Virginia to serve under John Pope during his campaign to capture Richmond in 1862. On 1 September 1862, he picked up the colors of the regiment and shouted, "Highlanders, my highlanders! Follow your general!" He was then struck in the temple by a bullet and killed instantly.
Gallery[]
