William Henry Stewart served as a Captain, Major and Lieutenant Colonel of the 61st Virginia Infantry. According to Confed. Military History, Ext. Addition, vol. XIV (Arkansas), Captain Stewart's rifle battery was stationed on the Appomattox River at Point of Rocks below Petersburg, and fought a battle with Federal gunboats in which the gunboat Matanzas was captured. Stewart's command became Company A (Jackson Grays) of the 61st. Post-war, Stewart compiled and edited a work entitled History of Norfolk County, Virginia and Representative Citizens, published in 1902, and he also wrote, A Pair of Blankets, published in 1912. He also contributed an article about Gettysburg for the book, Under Both Flags, published in 1896. Stewart was said to be a prominent citizen in the Norfolk/Chesapeake area. The History Room in the Chesapeake Central Library has a case displaying Stewart's cartridge box, spur, parole pass from Appomattox, belt, buckle, and a sword (a captured Union cavalry saber). A separate history of Norfolk County records that Companies E and F of the 61st were detached in 1862 to the Shenandoah Valley. Company F was posted in Staunton, while small squads from Company E occupied towns along the Valley turnpike from Staunton to Strasburg, a distance of about 70 miles. Both companies were ordered to rejoin the regiment in June 1863, and Gettysburg was reported to be Company E's first experience in a general engagement. Although the company, along with the regiment and the rest of Mahone's brigade, did not enter into close combat at Gettysburg, they sustained a few casualties from enemy artillery and while on the skirmish line.