Alexander Stewart (British Army officer)

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Alexander Stewart
Bornc. 1739
Afton, Wigtownshire
Died16 December 1794
Allegiance Kingdom of Great Britain
Service/branch British Army
RankMajor-General
Battles/warsAmerican Revolutionary War
Flanders Campaign

Major-General Alexander Stewart (c. 1739 – 16 December 1794)[1] was a Scottish officer in the British Army and a politician.

Military career[edit]

Born the second son of John Stewart MP (died 1769) of Castle Stewart, and brother of William Stewart MP,[2] Stewart was commissioned as an ensign in the 37th Regiment of Foot on 8 April 1755.[3] He commanded a field force at Orangeburg and fought at the Battle of Eutaw Springs during the American Revolutionary War.[3] 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 colonelcy of the 2nd (The Queen's Royal) Regiment of Foot on 20 November 1793.[4] He served in the Duke of York's army during the Flanders Campaign.,[3] 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.'[5]

He was the Member of Parliament (MP) for Kirkcudbright Stewartry from 1786 to 1794.[1][2]

References[edit]

  1. ^ a b Leigh Rayment's Historical List of MPs – Constituencies beginning with "K" (part 2)
  2. ^ a b Thorne, R. G. (1986). R. Thorne (ed.). "STEWART, Alexander I (c.1739-94), of Afton, Ayr and Cairne, Wigtown". The History of Parliament: the House of Commons 1790-1820. Boydell and Brewer. Retrieved 27 June 2014.
  3. ^ a b c "Major-General Alexander Stewart 1790-1794". Queen’s Royal Surreys. Retrieved 27 February 2016.
  4. ^ Cannon, p. 40
  5. ^ Thorne, R.G. (1986). The House of Commons 1790-1820. Secker & Warburg. p. 269. ISBN 0-436-52101-6.

Sources[edit]

Military offices
Preceded by Colonel of the 2nd (The Queen's Royal) Regiment of Foot
1793–1794
Succeeded by
Parliament of the United Kingdom
Preceded by Member of Parliament for Kirkcudbright Stewartry
1786–1794
Succeeded by