Page:A biographical dictionary of eminent Scotsmen, vol 7.djvu/191

Rh the subject of this memoir, by his gallant bearing, and knowledge of the capabilities of his countrymen, when properly commanded, contributed essentially to the brilliant success which almost immediately crowned this daring operation. In the celebrated action of the 21st, when the British army over- threw the French, but with the loss of their Commander-in-chief, the services of the 42nd were such as to secure for them undying fame. On this occasion, captain Stewart, whose personal exertions had been conspicuous in inspiring the men with a determination to conquer or perish, received a severe wound, which prevented his taking almost any part in the subsequent operations of the campaign.

Few officers have ever possessed so powerful a command over the energies of their men as the subject of these pages. He had studied the Highland character thoroughly; had made himself the brother and confident of the men under him; and could, with an art approaching to that of the poet, awaken those associations in their bosoms which were calculated to elevate and nerve their minds for the perilous tasks imposed upon them. The Highland soldier is not a mere mercenary: he acts under impulses of an abstract kind, which none but one perfectly skilled in his character, and who has local and family influences over him, can take full advantage of. The usual principles of military subordination fail in his case; while he will more than obey, if that be possible, the officer who possesses the influences alluded to, and will use them in a kind and brotherly spirit Captain Stewart appears to have enjoyed and used these advantages in a remarkable degree, and to have possessed not only the affections of his men, but of all connected with them in their own country. Hence, when he had to recruit in 1804, for a majority, the stated number of men, one hundred and twenty-five, came to his quarters at Drumcharry House, in less than three weeks, after which between thirty and forty arrived too late for admission into the corps, whose disappointment and vexation at finding they could not serve under captain Stewart, no language could describe. With this contingent he entered the 78th, with the rank of major, and in 1805, trained his men at Hythe, under the immediate direction of Sir John Moore. In June that year, he was selected with four other officers to join the first battalion in India; but his parting with his men was accompanied with such poignant regret, and so many marks of reluctance on their part, that general Moore reported the case to the commander-in-chief, who, sensible of the value of a mutual esteem existing between men and officers, countermanded his removal. In September, he accompanied his regiment to Gibraltar, where it continued to perform garrison duty until the month of May, 1806, when it embarked for Sicily, to join in the descent which general Sir John Stuart was then meditating on Calabria. Major Stewart accompanied the battalion on this occasion, and was present at the battle of Maida, fought on the 4th of July, 1806, where he was again severely wounded. Being obliged to return to Britain for his health, he was, in April, 1808, promoted to the rank of lieutenant-colonel, with a regimental appointment to the 3rd West India Rangers, then in Trinidad. But the severity of the wounds he had received, and the effects of the hard service he had encountered in various parts of the world, rendered it impossible for him to avail himself of his good fortune, and he was obliged to retire upon half-pay at a period when, had he been able to keep the field, he would soon have found further promotion or a soldier's grave. Notwithstanding this circumstance, he was, in 1814, promoted to the rank of colonel.

Colonel Stewart now for several years employed his leisure in the composition of his work on the Highlanders, which appeared in the year 1822, in two