Weed was born in Potsdam, New York, the second of four children born to John Kilbourne and Charity Winslow Weed. He was appointed to the United States Military Academy, graduating 27th of 46 students in the Class of 1854. Among his classmates were ten other future Civil War generals, including Oliver O. Howard and J.E.B. Stuart. He received a brevet rank of second lieutenant and was assigned to the 2nd U.S. Artillery on July 1, 1854. He served on frontier duty in Texas. In December, he received his regular rank of second lieutenant in the 4th U.S. Artillery.
At Gettysburg, his brigade went to the relief of Col. Strong Vincent's brigade on Little Round Top. His vanguard repelled a Confederate attack that had outflanked Vincent's right. Col. Patrick O'Rorke of the 140th New York Infantry was killed leading that counterattack. Elements of Weed's brigade helped move the guns of Lt. Charles E. Hazlett's Battery D, 5th United States Artillery to the top of the hill. Weed was mortally wounded in the chest (possibly by a sharpshooter hidden in Devil's Den) while standing near these guns. His last words were reported as "I would rather die here than that the rebels should gain an inch of this ground." Lt. Hazlett was killed trying to hear what Weed was saying. Command of the brigade fell to Col. Kenner Garrard of the 146th New York Infantry.
According to Tillie Pierce, a young girl from Gettysburg who witnessed the horrors of the battle from the Weikert farm on Taneytown Road just to the east of Little Round Top, Weed died in the Weikert's "basement", which served as the "cellar-kitchen." Not knowing who the man was, Tillie watched over him briefly while an attending soldier stepped away, whereupon she asked "the wounded soldier" if there was anything she could do for him: "Will you promise to come back in the morning to see me," he asked. She promised to do so, and, as she got up to leave for the night, Weed reminded, "Now don't you forget your promise." The next morning, she "hastened down to the little basement room," but "the soldier lay there -- dead. His faithful attendant was still at his side." As she "stood there gazing in sadness at the prostrate form, the attendant looked up . . . and asked: 'Do you know who this is?" When she said no, he replied, "This is the body of General Weed; a New York man."[3]
Redoubt A of the military defenses around Washington, D.C., was renamed "Fort Weed" in September 1863 in his memory. Following the war, Post #91 of the Grand Army of the Republic in New York City was named the Stephen H. Weed Post. In 1902, Army General Orders No. 16 renamed a portion of Fort Wadsworth along The Narrows in New York Harbor as Battery Weed. In 1930, a street in New Dorp Beach, Staten Island was named Weed Avenue, dedicated to Stephen H. Weed.
Eicher, John H., and David J. Eicher. Civil War High Commands. Stanford, CA: Stanford University Press, 2001. ISBN0-8047-3641-3.
Heitman, Francis B. Historical Register and Dictionary of the United States Army; From Its Organization, September 29, 1789, to March 2, 1903. 2 vols. Urbana: University of Illinois Press, 1963. ISBN0-942211-73-1. First published 1903 by U.S. Government Printing Office.
Warner, Ezra J. Generals in Blue: Lives of the Union Commanders. Baton Rouge: Louisiana State University Press, 1964. ISBN0-8071-0822-7.