Sir John Stuart, Count of Maida
GCB (1759–1815), was a British
Lieutenant-General during the
Napoleonic Wars
The Napoleonic Wars (1803–1815) were a series of major global conflicts pitting the French Empire and its allies, led by Napoleon I, against a fluctuating array of European states formed into various coalitions. It produced a period of Fren ...
.
Biography
Stuart was born in
Georgia
Georgia most commonly refers to:
* Georgia (country), a country in the Caucasus region of Eurasia
* Georgia (U.S. state), a state in the Southeast United States
Georgia may also refer to:
Places
Historical states and entities
* Related to the ...
, the son of Colonel
John Stuart, superintendent of
Indian affairs
The Bureau of Indian Affairs (BIA), also known as Indian Affairs (IA), is a United States federal agency within the Department of the Interior. It is responsible for implementing federal laws and policies related to American Indians and Al ...
in the southern district, and a prominent
loyalist in the
War of Independence
This is a list of wars of independence (also called liberation wars). These wars may or may not have been successful in achieving a goal of independence.
List
See also
* Lists of active separatist movements
* List of civil wars
* List o ...
. Educated at
Westminster School
(God Gives the Increase)
, established = Earliest records date from the 14th century, refounded in 1560
, type = Public school Independent day and boarding school
, religion = Church of England
, head_label = Hea ...
, young Stuart entered the
3rd Foot Guards in 1778, and almost immediately returned to America with his regiment. He was present at the
siege of Charleston
The siege of Charleston was a major engagement and major British victory in the American Revolutionary War, fought in the environs of Charles Town (today Charleston), the capital of South Carolina, between March 29 and May 12, 1780. The Britis ...
, the battles of
Camden and
Guilford court-house, and the surrender of
Yorktown, returning a regimental lieutenant and an army captain, as was then usual in the Guards.
Ten years later, as captain and lieutenant-colonel, he was present with the
Duke of York's army in the Netherlands and in northern France. He took part in the sieges and battles of the 1793 campaign,
Valenciennes
Valenciennes (, also , , ; nl, label=also Dutch, Valencijn; pcd, Valincyinnes or ; la, Valentianae) is a commune in the Nord department, Hauts-de-France, France.
It lies on the Scheldt () river. Although the city and region experienced a ...
, Lincelles,
Dunkirk and
Lannoy. The following year, now at the head of his battalion, he was present at
Landrecies
Landrecies (; nl, Landeschie) is a commune in the Nord department in northern France.
History
In 1543, Landrecies was besieged by English and Imperial forces, who were repulsed by the French defenders. In 1794, it was besieged by Dutch force ...
and at Pont-a-Chin or
Tournay, and when the tide turned against the allies, he shared with his guards in the discomforts of the retreat. As a brigadier-general he served in Portugal in 1796, and in Minorca in 1799. At
Alexandria
Alexandria ( or ; ar, ٱلْإِسْكَنْدَرِيَّةُ ; grc-gre, Αλεξάνδρεια, Alexándria) is the second largest city in Egypt, and the largest city on the Mediterranean coast. Founded in by Alexander the Great, Alexandri ...
, in 1801, his handling of his brigade called forth special commendation in general orders, and a year later he became substantive major-general. He then went on to take part in the
siege of Cairo and following this the final action in Egypt with the
surrender of Alexandria.
After two years in command of a brigade in
Kent
Kent is a county in South East England and one of the home counties. It borders Greater London to the north-west, Surrey to the west and East Sussex to the south-west, and Essex to the north across the estuary of the River Thames; it faces ...
, Stuart went with
Sir James Craig
James Craig, 1st Viscount Craigavon PC PC (NI) DL (8 January 1871 – 24 November 1940), was a leading Irish unionist and a key architect of Northern Ireland as a devolved region within the United Kingdom. During the Home Rule Crisis of 1912 ...
to the Mediterranean. The British were employed, along with Lacy's Russians, in
the defence of the kingdom of Naples but
Austerlitz Austerlitz may refer to:
History
* Battle of Austerlitz, an 1805 victory by the French Grand Army of Napoleon Bonaparte
Places
* Austerlitz, German name for Slavkov u Brna in the Czech Republic, which gave its name to the Battle of Austerlitz a ...
led to the recall of the Russian contingent, and the British soon afterwards evacuated Italy. Thus exposed,
Naples
Naples (; it, Napoli ; nap, Napule ), from grc, Νεάπολις, Neápolis, lit=new city. is the regional capital of Campania and the third-largest city of Italy, after Rome and Milan, with a population of 909,048 within the city's adminis ...
fell to the advancing troops of
Masséna but
Gaeta still held out for
King Ferdinand and Masséna's main force became locked up in the
siege of this fortress. Stuart, who was in temporary command, realized the weakness of the French position in
Calabria and on 1 July 1806 swiftly disembarked all his available forces in the
Gulf of Saint Euphemia
The Gulf of Saint Euphemia ( it, Golfo di Santa Eufemia or Golfo di Sant'Eufemia, la, Lametikos Kolpos or Vibonensis Sinus) is a gulf on the west coast of Calabria, southern Italy. It is part of the Tyrrhenian Sea and borders the province of Cosen ...
. On the 4th the British force, 4,800 strong, won the celebrated
victory of Maida over
Reynier's army. After this success, Stuart marched south and after a series of minor skirmishes, returned to Sicily as he felt his force was too weak to go onto a full offensive against Masséna's foothold in Naples. After besieging and taking the castle of
Scylla, the force returned to
Messina. Besides the dignity of Count of Maida from the court of
Palermo, Stuart received the thanks of parliament and an annuity of £1,000, as well as the
KCB. Superseded by two other generals,
Henry Fox and
John Moore, the latter of whom was his junior, Stuart came home in 1806.
A year later, now a lieutenant-general, he received the Mediterranean command which he held until 1810. His operations were confined to south Italy where
Murat Murat may refer to:
Places Australia
* Murat Bay, a bay in South Australia
* Murat Marine Park, a marine protected area
France
* Murat, Allier, a commune in the department of Allier
* Murat, Cantal, a commune in the department of Cantal
Elsewhe ...
, king of Naples, held the mainland whereas the British and Sicilian troops (along with some Neapolitan exiles) held Sicily for the
Bourbon Bourbon may refer to:
Food and drink
* Bourbon whiskey, an American whiskey made using a corn-based mash
* Bourbon barrel aged beer, a type of beer aged in bourbon barrels
* Bourbon biscuit, a chocolate sandwich biscuit
* A beer produced by Bras ...
king. Of the events of this time may be mentioned the failure to relieve Colonel
Hudson Lowe
Sir Hudson Lowe (28 July 176910 January 1844) was an Anglo-Irish soldier and colonial administrator who is best known for his time as Governor of St Helena, where he was the "gaoler" of the Emperor Napoléon.
Early life
The son of John Lowe, ...
at
Capri, the expedition against Murat's gunboats in the
bay of Naples and the second siege of Scylla. The various attempts made by Murat to cross
the straits
''The Straits'' is an Australian television drama series for ABC1 filmed in Cairns, the Torres Strait Islands and other Far North Queensland locations.
The series is based on an idea by actor Aaron Fa'aoso and produced by Penny Chapman and He ...
uniformly failed, though on one occasion the French actually obtained a footing in the island.
A. G. Macdonell in his 1934 book ''Napoleon and His Marshals'' describes Stuart as "a dawdling, incompetent and evil-minded man", but it is unclear why Macdonell issues such a disparaging description. In 1810 Stuart returned to England. He died at Clifton in 1815. Two months previously he had received the Grand Cross of the
Order of the Bath
The Most Honourable Order of the Bath is a British order of chivalry founded by George I of Great Britain, George I on 18 May 1725. The name derives from the elaborate medieval ceremony for appointing a knight, which involved Bathing#Medieval ...
(GCB).
Notes
References
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*
Attribution:
*
External links
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Stuart, John
1759 births
1815 deaths
People of Georgia (British colony)
People educated at Westminster School, London
British Army commanders of the Napoleonic Wars
British Army generals
British Army personnel of the American Revolutionary War
Knights Grand Cross of the Order of the Bath
Lancashire Fusiliers officers
Scots Guards officers
British Army personnel of the French Revolutionary Wars