Edward Stevens

Edward Stevens was an officer in the American Revolutionary War and later a state legislator for Virginia, serving in the Virginia Senate. He was elected to the American Philosophical Society in 1794.

Stevens began his military career as a lieutenant colonel in the 1775 Battle of Great Bridge, where he commanded a battalion of riflemen, the Culpeper Minutemen. Stevens distinguished himself in the battle Stevens's command had their first engagement at the Battle of Brandywine, where the regiment did not enter the battle until the American forces had begun to retreat. Stevens troops covered the retreat and prevented the British from pursuing. At the council of war before the battle, Stevens advised "It is too late to retreat now; we must fight." The battle did not go well, and Stevens considered resigning, but Nathanael Greene convinced Stevens to continue his service.

Stevens next commanded his militia at the Battle of Guilford Court House. Stevens' militia was positioned behind a line of North Carolina militia. When the North Carolinians broke, dropped their weapons, and ran at the beginning of the battle, Stevens told his soldiers to make way for the retreat and that this was part of the battle plan. Stevens returned to the battlefield to lead a brigade of 750 men at the Siege of Yorktown.