Walker Keith Armistead

Walker Keith Armistead
Col. Walker Keith Armistead
Born	(1773-03-25)25 March 1773 New Market, Virginia, Colony of Virginia, British America
Died	13 October 1845(1845-10-13) (aged 72) New Market, Virginia, U.S.
Buried	Armistead Family Cemetery Upperville, Virginia, U.S.
Allegiance	United States of America
Service / branch	United States Army
Years of service	1803-1845
Rank	Colonel Brevet Brigadier General
Commands	3rd Artillery Regiment United States Army Corps of Engineers
Battles / wars	Northwest Indian War War of 1812 Second Seminole War
Children	Lewis Armistead
Relations	George Armistead (brother)

Walker Keith Armistead (March 25, 1773 – October 13, 1845) was a military officer who served as Chief of Engineers of the United States Army Corps of Engineers.

Armistead was born in Upperville, Fauquier County, Virginia, and served as an orderly sergeant at the Battle of Fallen Timbers. He graduated from West Point in 1803. During the War of 1812, he was promoted to lieutenant colonel and successively served as Chief Engineer of the Niagara frontier army and the forces defending Chesapeake Bay. He was promoted to colonel and Chief Engineer on November 12, 1818. When the Army was reorganized on June 1, 1821, he became commander of the 3rd Artillery Regiment. He was brevetted brigadier general in November 1828. He succeeded Zachary Taylor as commander of the army during the Second Seminole War against the Seminole Indians in Florida in 1840–1841.

After 42 years of service as a commissioned officer, Armistead died in New Market, Virginia, at the age of 72, and is buried in the Armistead family cemetery in Upperville.

Family

His brother George Armistead commanded Fort McHenry during the Battle of Baltimore in the War of 1812. The attack became immortalized by onlooker Francis Scott Key who penned "The Star-Spangled Banner" while watching the British bombardment of Armistead's fort.

His son Lewis Addison Armistead was a Confederate general who died during Pickett's Charge at the Battle of Gettysburg in 1863.

References

External links

• "Colonel Walker Keith Armistead". Portraits and Profiles of Chief Engineers. Archived from the original on April 4, 2005. Retrieved May 13, 2005.
•  "Armistead, Walker Keith". The Biographical Dictionary of America. Vol. 1. 1906. p. 136.
• Service Profile
• Find a Grave

Military offices
Preceded by Joseph Gardner Swift	Chief of Engineers 1818–1821	Succeeded by Alexander Macomb, Jr.