On the death of Bernard about 1125; another Walter Devereux, son of Walter of Lyonshall, joined the retinue of Miles de Gloucester, 1st Earl of Hereford. Taking advantage of the civil war between King Stephen and the Empress Matilda, this Walter Devereux increased his autonomy. Walter probably was present at the Battle of Lincoln, and the Rout of Winchester with the Earl of Hereford. A supporter of the Empress Maud, he was rewarded when her son, Henry II, finally took the throne. With the end of the earldom of Hereford in 1155 and the death of the last of Miles de Gloucester's sons in 1165; Walter Devereux and his son, John, joined the retinue of William de Braose, 3rd Lord of Bramber.