Major-General Alexander Stewart (c. 1739 – 16 December 1794) was a

Scottish Scottish usually refers to something of, from, or related to Scotland, including: *Scottish Gaelic, a Celtic Goidelic language of the Indo-European language family native to Scotland *Scottish English *Scottish national identity, the Scottish ide ...

officer in the

British Army The British Army is the principal land warfare force of the United Kingdom, a part of the British Armed Forces along with the Royal Navy and the Royal Air Force. , the British Army comprises 79,380 regular full-time personnel, 4,090 Gurk ...

and a politician.

Military career

Born the second son of

John Stewart John Stewart may refer to: Business * John Aikman Stewart (1822–1926), American banker * John Killough Stewart (1867–1938), businessman and philanthropist in Queensland, Australia * John K. Stewart (1870–1916), American entrepreneur and inve ...

MP (died 1769) of Castle Stewart, and brother of William Stewart MP, Stewart was commissioned as an ensign in the

37th Regiment of Foot The 37th (North Hampshire) Regiment of Foot was a line infantry regiment of the British Army, raised in Ireland in February 1702. Under the Childers Reforms it amalgamated with the 67th (South Hampshire) Regiment of Foot to become the Hampshire R ...

on 8 April 1755. He commanded a field force at Orangeburg and fought at the

Battle of Eutaw Springs The Battle of Eutaw Springs was a battle of the American Revolutionary War, and was the last major engagement of the war in the Carolinas. Both sides claimed victory. Background In early 1781, Major General Nathanael Greene, commander of the ...

during the

American Revolutionary War The American Revolutionary War (April 19, 1775 – September 3, 1783), also known as the Revolutionary War or American War of Independence, was a major war of the American Revolution. Widely considered as the war that secured the independence of t ...

. He was appointed Lieutenant-Colonel of the Third Foot on 7 July 1775 ; Colonel in the army on 16 May 1780 ; and promoted Major-General on 28 April 1790. He was granted the

colonel Colonel (abbreviated as Col., Col or COL) is a senior military officer rank used in many countries. It is also used in some police forces and paramilitary organizations. In the 17th, 18th and 19th centuries, a colonel was typically in charge of ...

cy of the

2nd (The Queen's Royal) Regiment of Foot The Queen's Royal Regiment (West Surrey) was a line infantry regiment of the English and later the British Army from 1661 to 1959. It was the senior English line infantry regiment of the British Army, behind only the Royal Scots in the British Arm ...

on 20 November 1793.Cannon, p. 40 He served in the Duke of York's army during the

Flanders Campaign The Flanders Campaign (or Campaign in the Low Countries) was conducted from 20 April 1792 to 7 June 1795 during the first years of the War of the First Coalition. A coalition of states representing the Ancien Régime in Western Europe – Aus ...

., commanding the First Brigade of infantry during the retreat to Holland in 1794. He returned home towards the end of the year and ‘fell a sacrifice to an illness contracted in consequence of the fatigues he had undergone’, dying 16 December 1794.' He was the

Member of Parliament A member of parliament (MP) is the representative in parliament of the people who live in their electoral district. In many countries with bicameral parliaments, this term refers only to members of the lower house since upper house members of ...

(MP) for Kirkcudbright Stewartry from 1786 to 1794.

References

Sources

* , - 1739 births Year of birth uncertain 1794 deaths British Army generals Members of the Parliament of Great Britain for Scottish constituencies British MPs 1784–1790 British MPs 1790–1796 British Army personnel of the American Revolutionary War 37th Regiment of Foot officers British Army personnel of the French Revolutionary Wars {{British-Army-bio-stub