Lieutenant-General Sir William Stewart,
GCB (10 January 1774 – 7 January 1827) was a British military officer who was the first Commanding Officer of the
Rifle Corps, a Division Commander in the
Peninsular War
The Peninsular War (1808–1814) was fought in the Iberian Peninsula by Kingdom of Portugal, Portugal, Spain and the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland, United Kingdom against the invading and occupying forces of the First French ...
and a
Scottish Member of Parliament (MP) in the British Parliament.
Early life
William Stewart, born on 10 January 1774, was the fourth (second surviving) son of
John Stewart, 7th Earl of Galloway (1736–1806), and his second wife,
Anne
Anne, alternatively spelled Ann, is a form of the Latin female name Anna (name), Anna. This in turn is a representation of the Hebrew Hannah (given name), Hannah, which means 'favour' or 'grace'. Related names include Annie (given name), Annie a ...
(1742/3–1830), daughter of
Sir James Dashwood, 2nd Baronet
Sir James Dashwood, 2nd Baronet (1715–1779) was an English politician who sat in the House of Commons from 1740 to 1768.
Early life
He was the son of Robert Dashwood, and his grandfather from whom he inherited the baronetcy was Sir Robert Da ...
.
Charles James Stewart the second Bishop of Quebec, was his younger brother.
Member of Parliament
He represented
Saltash
Saltash () is a town and civil parish in south Cornwall, England. It had a population of 16,184 in 2011 census. Saltash faces the city of Plymouth over the River Tamar and is popularly known as "the Gateway to Cornwall". Saltash’s landmarks ...
in Cornwall from 1795 to 1796,
Wigtownshire
Wigtownshire or the County of Wigtown (, ) is one of the Counties of Scotland, historic counties of Scotland, covering an area in the south-west of the country. Until 1975, Wigtownshire was an counties of Scotland, administrative county used for ...
1796–1802, the
Wigtown Burghs 1803–1805 and Wigtownshire again 1812–1816.
Early military success
Stewart entered the British Army in 1786 as a twelve-year-old Ensign in the 42nd Foot. His first active service was in the West Indies Campaign of 1793–94, where he was wounded. After further service in the West Indies, when he commanded the 67th Foot at San Domingo (1796–98), Stewart returned to Europe and was given permission to serve with Britain's Austrian and Russian allies in Italy, Swabia and Switzerland during the campaign of 1799.
Stewart was intensely interested in weapons and tactics. It was probably his observations in 1799 of 'light infantry' and Tyrolese and Croat soldiers that did not fight in the rigid formations adopted by normal infantry units that led him to propose that the British Army should include a permanent force of 'light infantry', equipped with rifles. His ideas won support, especially from the influential Equerry to the King, Colonel
Coote Manningham, who Stewart had first met in the West Indies.
In March 1800 an experimental 'Corps of Riflemen' was established. In August Stewart commanded it at the amphibious attack on Ferrol, where he was severely wounded in the chest as he led his riflemen up the cliffs. In October 1800 the Corps was gazetted as an established unit, with Manningham as colonel and Stewart as its first lieutenant-colonel and commanding officer.
Stewart's Standing Orders for the Rifle Corps, which later became the famous 95th Foot (
Rifle Brigade), show how advanced his tactical thinking was compared to that of his contemporaries. He devised and implemented specially adapted forms of drill and manoeuvre, medals for bravery and good conduct, classification in shooting ability, a school and a library for the soldiers, while requiring every Rifles officer to get to know each of his men as individuals.
Shortly after Stewart's twenty-seventh birthday he was appointed to command the 895 soldiers (114 from the Rifle Corps and 781 from the 49th Regiment) that were to serve as marines in the fleet sent to the Baltic in 1801. He was stationed on the quarterdeck of Admiral Nelson's flagship HMS ''Elephant'' throughout the great naval
Battle of Copenhagen on 2 April 1801. Nelson reported that "The Honourable Colonel Stewart did me the favour to be aboard the Elephant; and himself, with every officer and soldier under his orders, shared with pleasure the toils and dangers of the day" (Stewart's detachment lost 4 dead and 6 wounded).
Stewart was chosen for the honour of carrying to London the despatches reporting the victory and was included by name in the Thanks of Parliament voted on 16 April 1801. Six days later he received an official letter of promotion to full colonel, effective from the day of the Battle of Copenhagen. Nelson wrote to Lord St Vincent praising "Colonel Stewart, who is an excellent and indefatigable young man, and depend upon it, the rising hope of our army".
Nelson wrote at least eleven letters to Stewart in the four years between Copenhagen and his death at Trafalgar, which were included in the collection of Stewart's papers privately published as "The Cumloden Papers".
In 1802 the Rifle Corps was redesignated as the 95th (Rifle) Regiment and together with the 43rd and 52nd Foot was formed into the famous Light Brigade commanded by
Sir John Moore. Stewart was the first colonel of the 95th, but soon had to hand over its operational command when he was appointed to be a brigadier-general. Stewart's heart still lay with the Rifles, and in 1805 he published "Outlines of a Plan for the General Reform of the British Land Forces", which advocated general adoption of many of the innovations he had already made within the 95th.
Stewart held important commands in
the expeditions to Egypt in 1807 and to Walcheren in 1809, before being sent to Spain in 1810. Although Stewart was still junior as a major-general, he was given the crucial task of commanding the besieged garrison of the vital port of Cadiz and initially put directly under the orders of General
Arthur Wellesley, 1st Duke of Wellington
Field marshal (United Kingdom), Field Marshal Arthur Wellesley, 1st Duke of Wellington (; 1 May 1769 – 14 September 1852) was a British Army officer and statesman who was one of the leading military and political figures in Britain during t ...
. This led to an appointment to command a brigade in the
2nd Division of the army in the Peninsula, and in December 1810 Stewart took over as commander of 2nd Division.
Division commander under Wellington
At the
Battle of Albuera on 16 May 1811, Stewart led the 2nd Division, which bore the brunt of Marshal
Nicolas Soult's flank attack. He wheeled Lieut-Col
John Colborne
Field marshal (United Kingdom), Field Marshal John Colborne, 1st Baron Seaton, (16 February 1778 – 17 April 1863) was a British Army officer and colonial governor. After taking part as a junior officer in the Anglo-Russian invasion of Hollan ...
's brigade to attack the left flank of Soult's massive French column. At first, the manoeuvre went well, as British musketry savaged the French infantry. Suddenly attacked from flank and rear by mounted Polish lancers and French hussars, three of Colborne's regiments were massacred, losing 1,250 men; only 400 escaped. At that battle, Stewart's other two brigades also suffered severely from point-blank French cannon and musket fire, but this was not his fault. In an epic struggle, the survivors of his division held back the French until the 4th Division saved the day. Glover, historian of the Peninsular War, wrote, "As a battalion commander, Stewart was surpassed only by Moore; as a general he was a menace".
Wellington wrote of him, "It is necessary that Stewart should be under the particular charge of somebody". After Albuera, Wellington found that "somebody" in the person of Lieutenant-General
Rowland Hill
Sir Rowland Hill, KCB, FRS (3 December 1795 – 27 August 1879) was an English teacher, inventor and social reformer. He campaigned for a comprehensive reform of the postal system, based on the concept of Uniform Penny Post and his solu ...
. For the rest of the Peninsular War, Stewart and his 2nd Division usually served under Hill's competent supervision. He fought in Hill's corps in the
Burgos
Burgos () is a city in Spain located in the autonomous community of Castile and León. It is the capital and most populous municipality of the province of Burgos.
Burgos is situated in the north of the Iberian Peninsula, on the confluence of th ...
campaign in autumn 1812 and at the
Battle of Vitoria
At the Battle of Vitoria (21 June 1813), a United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland, British, Kingdom of Portugal, Portuguese and Spanish Empire, Spanish army under the Arthur Wellesley, 1st Duke of Wellington, Marquess of Wellington bro ...
in 1813.
On 15 November 1812, Soult's 80,000 Frenchmen confronted Wellington's 65,000 Anglo-Portuguese near Salamanca. When Soult failed to attack, Wellington ordered a withdrawal to Portugal. During the retreat, Stewart (temporarily in charge of the
1st Division) and two other division commanders disobeyed their commander's orders. Stewart, Wellington wrote, "and certain other generals held a Council of War to decide whether to obey my orders to march by a particular road. He
tewart at the head, decided they would not; they marched by a road leading they knew not where, and when I found them in the morning they were in the utmost confusion, not knowing where to go and what to do".
On the opening day of the
Battle of the Pyrenees at
Maya Pass, Stewart concluded that the French would not attack, then rode ten miles to the rear. When the battle began, his 2nd Division was left to fight all morning under an inexperienced brigade commander and lost 1,347 men.
[.] Still in Hill's corps, Stewart fought at the battles of
the Nive,
Orthez
Orthez (; ; , ) is a commune in the Pyrénées-Atlantiques department, and region of Nouvelle-Aquitaine, southwestern France.
It lies 40 km NW of Pau on the Southern railway to Bayonne. The town also encompasses the small village of Sai ...
and
Toulouse
Toulouse (, ; ; ) is a city in southern France, the Prefectures in France, prefecture of the Haute-Garonne department and of the Occitania (administrative region), Occitania region. The city is on the banks of the Garonne, River Garonne, from ...
during Wellington's 1814 invasion of southern France.
Awards, thanks and retirement
For his services in the Peninsula Stewart received the
Gold Cross with two clasps, the Portuguese
Order of the Tower and Sword, and the Spanish
Order of San Fernando. On 2 January 1815 (on the enlargement of the order of the Bath) he received the
G.C.B. Stewart had been M.P. for Saltash in 1795, and for Wigtonshire from 1796 onward, and on 24 June 1814 the speaker thanked him in his place, on behalf of the house, for his share in the victories of Vittoria and Orthes, and in the intermediate operations.
Stewart saw no further service. His health was broken by seventeen campaigns, in which he had received six wounds and four contusions, and in 1816 he resigned his seat in parliament. In July 1818 he was transferred to the colonelcy of the 1st Battalion of what had then become the
Rifle Brigade. He settled at Cumloden on the borders of
Wigton and
Kirkcudbrightshire
Kirkcudbrightshire ( ) or the County of Kirkcudbright or the Stewartry of Kirkcudbright is one of the Counties of Scotland, historic counties of Scotland, covering an area in the south-west of the country. Until 1975, Kirkcudbrightshire was an ...
, near the family seat. He died there on 7 January 1827, and was buried at
Minigaff.
Family
In 1804 Stewart married Frances, daughter of the Hon. John Douglas (second son of the
Earl of Morton
The title Earl of Morton was created in the Peerage of Scotland in 1458 for James Douglas of Dalkeith. Along with it, the title Lord Aberdour was granted. This latter title is the courtesy title for the eldest son and heir to the Earl of Morton. ...
), and he left one son, Horatio, a captain in the Rifle Brigade, and one daughter, Louisa.
Notes
References
*
Attribution:
* Endnotes:
**''The Cumloden Papers'', printed for private circulation in 1871, containing a memoir, with extracts from Stewart's journals, and correspondence with Nelson and Wellington
** Cope's ''Hist. of the Rifle Brigade''
** Verner's ''The first British Rifle Corps''
** ''Gent. Mag.'' 1827, i. 175
** ''Royal Military Calendar'', ii. 322
** Wellington ''Despatches''
** Napier's ''War in the Peninsula''
** Beresford's ''Further Strictures on the War in the Peninsula'', p. 159.
Further reading
*
*
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Stewart, William
1774 births
1827 deaths
British Army commanders of the Napoleonic Wars
Tory MPs (pre-1834)
Members of the Parliament of Great Britain for constituencies in Cornwall
Members of the Parliament of Great Britain for Scottish constituencies
British MPs 1790–1796
British MPs 1796–1800
Members of the Parliament of the United Kingdom for Scottish constituencies
UK MPs 1801–1802
UK MPs 1802–1806
UK MPs 1812–1818
Younger sons of earls
42nd Regiment of Foot officers
British Army lieutenant generals
67th Regiment of Foot officers
British Army personnel of the French Revolutionary Wars
Rifle Brigade officers