Alexander C. Stuart

According to an account of his life written by Stuart, he had studied engineering and medicine before enlisting in the English Army in the Crimean War and the Indian Mutiny.

[1] After resigning from the Navy, Stuart began working as an artist and illustrator for the merchant shipbuilding companies.

During this period Stuart produced numerous illustrations of early iron steamships built by these firms.

These images became valuable documentary sources for this era of shipbuilding in the U.S., giving Stuart's work added value.

His financial condition in the final years of his life saw a decline, but he painted marine subjects until his death in 1898.

A sketch of Steamship Pennsylvania at the Independence Seaport Museum.
Stuart's drawing "Wood Versus Iron" depicting the naval encounter during the American Civil War that took place on 5 May 1864 in Albemarle Sound.
Stuart's drawing of a naval battle in Plymouth, North Carolina, on 31 October 1864.