Tucker, Stephen S.

Born: 1807-10-16 Vermont

Died: 1861-11-15

Tucker attended schools in his hometown of Randolph, Vermont, and the Orange County Grammar School. From 1824 to 1826, he attended the University of Vermont. He entered Norwich University (the Military College of Vermont) in 1829 and remained until 1831. After leaving Norwich, he taught school in various parts of the South. He fought on the side of Texas in the Texas Revolution, and he also served as an officer in the Second Seminole War. When the Mexican War commenced in April 1846, Tucker offered his services to Arkansas. In May 1846, he received a commission into the U.S. Army as a captain of a company in the newly created Mounted Riflemen under the command of Persifor F. Smith. Tucker and his company participated in General Winfield Scott's expedition from Veracruz to Mexico City. He led his company at the battles of Cerro Gordo, Contreras, Churubusco, and Chapultepec. He was wounded at Chapultepec and was breveted major on September 13, 1847 for his gallant and meritorious service in that battle. He resigned his commission in June 1851. In 1853, Tucker took part in William Walker's abortive filibustering expedition to capture and occupy parts of Mexico. In 1856 and 1857, Tucker served as a major in Walker's "Red Star Guard" in a filibustering expedition that conquered Nicaragua. After the fall of Walker's government, Tucker was captured. He was among the officers that accompanied Walker to Panama under the protection of the United States government. When the Civil War began, Tucker sided with the Confederacy, and in April 1861, he received a commission as colonel in the Confederate States Army. He was placed in command of Fort Morgan, near Mobile, where he died in battle. On the night of his death the Confederate War Department commissioned him as a major general.

Wm. Hugh Robarts, Mexican War Veterans: A Complete Roster of the Regular and Volunteer Troops in the War Between the United States and Mexico, From 1846 to 1848 (Washington, DC: Brentano's, 1887), 13; Francis B. Heitman, Historical Register and Dictionary of the United States Army (Washington, DC: Government Printing Office, 1903), 1:973; William Arba Ellis, comp. and ed., Norwich University 1819-1911: Her History, Her Graduates, Her Roll of Honor (Montpelier, VT: Capital City Press, 1911), 2:242-43.