On November 23, 1866 Stewart would be promoted to Captain and assigned to command Company K 18th U. S. Infantry. He left Michigan in December 1866 in route to Fort McPherson, Nebraska where he arrived on April 1, 1867. His next duty station was Fort Fetterman, Dakota Territory (now Wyoming) where he commanded Company K and a post located at a sawmill 17 miles from the fort. By March 1868 Company K and Captain Stewart were at Fort Sedgwick, Colorado. While in Colorado Stewart commanded a sub post at Sydney Station on the Union Pacific Railroad Route, staying at Sydney Station until at least December of 1868.
In 1869 the 18th U. S. Infantry would be combined with the 25th Infantry and assigned to Atlanta Georgia. Stewart would move to Atlanta with his wife and 6 children. Two children had been added to his growing brood between 1865 and 1869, a son John G. Stewart born in Michigan January 1, 1867 and a daughter Emma born in February 1870 in Nebraska. Another son William would be born in 1871.
The 18th U. S. Infantry was sent south during Reconstruction. They had a varied number of assignments and duty stations. James Stewart and Company K did not stay long at one location during this period. They were in Atlanta from April 1869 until October 1870. They were then assigned to Columbia, South Carolina until March 1871. In April Company K and their commander moved to Laurensville. The next assignment was Newberry, South Carolina from December 1874 until July 1875.
James Stewart took his family south with him in 1869. In November 1873 while Captain Stewart was stationed at Newberry his wife Sabine died. The Columbia, South Carolina newspaper noted: "Mrs. Stewart was a native of Alsace and had no living relations on this continent. She was the mother of seven children, the eldest a son, to whom she was most tenderly attached, being absent from her side at a school in a distant city" (Detroit, Michigan). At age 47 Brevet Major & Captain James Stewart was a widower with seven children to take care of, four of whom were less than 10 years of age.
In July 1875 Stewart and Company K 18th U. S. Infantry were transferred to Greenville, South Carolina. While stationed in Greenville Captain Stewart and 10 men of the 18th Infantry were ordered to report to the Deputy Collector of Internal Revenue to protect the collector while he enforced revenue laws. While assisting the deputy revenue collector the party destroyed 13,300 gallons of mash and beer, arrested 17 men and destroyed 7 stills, caps and worms. Stewart commanded the post at Greenville until July 24, 1877. He was then transferred to the Allegheny Arsenal in Pittsburg, Pennsylvania until November 1, 1877 before returning to McPherson Barracks at Atlanta, Georgia where he would remain until his retirement in March 20, 1879.
Captain and Brevet Major James Stewart was retired at age 53 on a surgeons certificate of disability with noted he was "incapacitated from active service due to pleuritic adhesions, impaired vision and some loss of locomotion due to an ankle broken during the siege of Petersburg." All of these impairments were obtained in the line of duty. Upon retirement Stewart and his family moved to Carthage, Ohio.
The 1880 Census shows James Stewart living with his 2nd wife Rebecca (Duffy) Stewart as residence of Carthage. Rebecca, the daughter of Irish immigrant Dr. Thomas Stringer Duffy and his wife Catherine had been born in Rutherfordton, North Carolina in 1848. The family includes children from his 1st marriage, Margaret, Sabine, Mary, John, Emma and William. James and his second wife would have three children of their own, Katherine born in June 1880, Thomas, born August 1881 and Mignon born in March 1888.
James Stewart would be active in retirement. He was a member of the Grand Army of the Republic, the Loyal Legions, The Masonic Fraternity, the Episcopal Church and the Republican Party. For many years he was a vice president of the Iron Brigade Association and attended a number of their reunions. In the 1890's he taught classes at the Ohio Military Institute for several years. On May 31, 1904 he would be appointed Major, retired in the U. S. Army.
During the last few years of his life Stewart resided at Fort Thomas, Kentucky. He died at 10:00 p.m. April 19, 1905 at the post hospital several weeks before his 79th birthday. His remains were transported to Washington D. C. for burial at Arlington National Cemetery on April 23, 1905. Prior to the internment a funeral was held at the home of General W. W. Dudley a long standing friend of Stewart who had served with the 19th Indiana Volunteer Infantry during the civil war.
Stewart's headstone, which bears the emblem of the Iron Brigade Association, was unveiled on July 28, 1907 by his son Thomas Duffy Stewart. The program was orchestrated by General Dudley. Edward S. Bragg, formerly of the 6th Wisconsin gave the dedication oration.
Stewart's second wife Rebecca would outlive the Major by 30 years dying in Cincinnati, Ohio July 8, 1935. Rebecca and at least 5 of Stewart's children are buried in Spring Grove Cemetery in Cincinnati.
Information in this article is derived from sources including but not limited to: U. S. Army Register of Enlistments, U. S. Returns from Military Posts, 1806 - 1916, letters written by Stewart, U. S. Census Records, History of Cincinnati and Hamilton County, Ohio, Fold3.com military records, newspaper articles.
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