Stewart, Alexander
Stewart, Alexander
STEWART, ALEXANDER. (1741–1794). British army officer in the South. He entered the army as an ensign in the Thirty-seventh Foot on 8 April 1755 and remained with it until he was promoted lieutenant colonel of the Third Foot (the "Buffs") on 7 July 1775. He reached Charleston on 4 June 1781 and took over command of the field force at Orangeburg, South Carolina, from Francis Rawdon. He was not, however, in overall command in the South or even in South Carolina, where his superior was Colonel Paston Gould. At Eutaw Springs on 8 September, Stewart won a hard-fought victory in the last major engagement of the war. However, losses on both sides were high—the highest in terms of numbers engaged of any battle in the war—and the British, less able than their foes to withstand such attrition, had to withdraw toward Charleston. At Monck's Corner on 12 September 1781, he met the Thirtieth Foot led by Gould, to whom he handed over command. Stewart subsequently commanded the troops defending Charleston Neck. He was promoted colonel on 16 May 1782 and major general on 25 April 1790.
SEE ALSO Eutaw Springs, South Carolina; Gould, Paston; Monck's Corner, South Carolina; Orangeburg, South Carolina.
BIBLIOGRAPHY
Mackesy, Piers. The War for America, 1775–1783. London: Longman, 1964.
revised by John Oliphant