CHAPTER IV. SIR CHARLES STEWART, FROM HIS SERVICE WITH THE EXPE- CHAP. 1798. 1. Stewart's life from 1798. WHILE Lord Castlereagh was engaged in the arduous duties of Secretary for Ireland during the critical periods of the Rebellion and Union, and the still more important Resumé of cares of War Secretary during the Copenhagen expediSir Charles tion and the Peninsular and Walcheren campaigns, his brother, Sir Charles Stewart, was occupied in making himself master of those practical details connected with his profession, without the command of which the greatest military native genius will generally be found awanting in the hour of trial. The first important duty on foreign service in which he was engaged was with the expedition which was sent to Holland in 1797, to co-operate with the grand attack of the Allies on the French Republic, then directed by the feeble hands of the Directory during the absence of Buonaparte in Egypt. The regiment to which he was attached, the 18th Dragoons, was, when he joined it in January 1797, a mere skeleton; but under his active direction it rapidly improved in discipline and increased in numbers, and it was one of those selected for foreign service on this occasion. 2. The service was one of the most important which had His services occurred since the commencement of the war. The Briin 1799 in tish force, to which a Russian one of still greater numerical amount was to be joined, was charged with the task Holland. CHAP. IV. of delivering Holland from the thraldom of the French Republicans, who had in the most shameful manner abused the rights of conquest, and rendered the whole 1799. inhabitants ripe for revolt. The campaign on which they entered was of unparalleled extent, for it stretched from the banks of the Po over the Alps, and down the whole course of the Rhine to the marshes of Holland. During the whole of the short but active campaign which followed, Sir Charles was incessantly on horseback, and with the outposts, which were almost entirely formed of the troopers of his regiment. In this arduous duty he was frequently under fire, and exposed to the greatest danger. In such a service it was scarcely possible he could long remain unhurt; and he narrowly escaped with his life during an affair of the outposts near Shogenbrugh on the 10th October in the same year. One musket-ball struck his head; and another, nearly at the same instant, came with great violence against his breast. The latter would in all probability have proved fatal, had it not fortunately been turned aside by the brass tube of the glass which hung round his neck. 3. pointed Camp to the cretary of Ireland. He returned to England with the expedition, which had partially accomplished the objects for which it had been He is apsent out, as, independently of proving an important diver- Aide-desion to the Austrian forces in Germany, it brought away King, and the entire Dutch fleet at the Texel, consisting of eight sail Under Seof the line and several frigates. He was not again State for engaged in active service till the Peninsular war broke out; but in the interim both honours and important offices fell to his lot. On 25th September 1803 he was promoted to the rank of colonel, and soon after appointed aide-de-camp to the King, a situation of distinction, as a reward of merit, but not attended with active duties. Ere long, however, he was transferred to more important duties of an administrative kind. He was appointed Under Secretary of State for Ireland, an arduous and responsible situation, especially at that time, when the IV. 1808. CHAP. island was still smarting under the wounds received, and agitated by the passions awakened, during the Rebellion of 1798, and the outbreak in Dublin in 1803. As his known firmness and resolution of character had procured for him in perilous times this important situation, so the mingled steadiness of his administration, and courtesy of his manners, secured to him during the whole time that he held it which was till the Peninsular war broke out in 1808-the respect and regard of all classes of the community. This period of his life was signalised by an event of great importance. During his residence at the Castle of Dublin he became intimate with the Earl of Darnley's family, and on the 8th August 1808 he was married to an elegant and accomplished lady, Lady Catherine Bligh, fourth daughter of that nobleman, by whom he had a son, who afterwards became the fourth Lord Londonderry. 4. But more stirring times were approaching; and the First opera- trumpet of war, which sent forth a loud blast from the tions in Por- Spanish peninsula, called Colonel Stewart alike from his tugal. pacific duties and the endearments of home to more animating dangers in the field. No sooner had Government determined on sending out an expedition to Portugal than he relinquished his high situation in Ireland, and proceeded to that country with the force commanded by Sir John Moore, in which he had obtained the command of a brigade of hussars. The armament to which he was attached, which consisted of ten thousand men, was the second, in order of time, which sailed from the British shore, and proceeded to Mondego Bay, there to await orders from Sir Hew Dalrymple, who was the Commanderin-Chief. Adverse winds, however, rendered landing there impossible at that time; and as it was of the highest importance that the latter should be informed as soon as possible of the approach of so powerful a reinforcement, Sir John Moore looked anxiously round for an officer upon whose spirit and steadiness he could rely to carry the 1808. information. His choice fell upon Colonel Stewart, who CHAP. forthwith set out on his mission, which was not a little IV. perilous, as the intervening country was for the most part inundated with the enemy's light troops. It was performed, however, with perfect success. The first part of the journey was made in a frigate when it neared the shore he got into an open boat, which landed him with no small difficulty at the village of St Nazarath, at a considerable distance from the British headquarters. Thither the journey had to be performed on foot; but after undergoing great fatigue, and surmounting severe hardships, he reached the place of his destination, four days after the battle of Vimeira had rendered the approach of the succour, in the mean time at least, of comparatively little importance. 5. After this, Colonel Stewart remained with the army in Portugal, of which, after the recall of Sir Harry His advance into Spain Burrard, and the return of Sir Arthur Wellesley on leave with Sir to give evidence on the convention of Cintra, Sir John John Moore. Moore assumed the command. An advance into Spain having been resolved on to support the movements of the Spanish armies, which after their surprising successes were converging in pursuit of the French towards the Ebro, Colonel, now Major-General, Stewart was attached to the division which, under the command of Sir John Hope, afterwards Earl of Hopeton, advanced towards Madrid. Major-General Stewart with his brigade of hussars covered the advance of the column; and the arrangements were made with such foresight and judgment that the troops arrived at Navalcarnero, within twenty miles of Madrid, little fatigued, in the best order and in the highest spirits. The general point of rendezvous for the army was Salamanca, in the vicinity of which it was expected the decisive blow would be struck. Thither, accordingly, after leaving Navalcarnero, Hope's division proceeded by the road of the Escurial, General Stewart with his hussars still covering the advance. The VOL. I. X IV. 1808. CHAP. junction with the main body at Salamanca having been effected, Sir John Moore, after considerable hesitation, determined to advance. Whilst forming the advanced guard, General Stewart came with his brigade of cavalry upon a French detachment lying at Rueda, between Tordesillas and Nava, which he succeeded in surprising, and where he took a large supply of cotton. On entering Villapondo he again surprised a French major of cavalry, who was proceeding with an escort to join his regiment, and, with his followers, was made prisoner. 6. actions near The army, 25,000 strong, having made a forward Gallant movement on Sahagun, threatened the communications of Sahagun, the French army. The greatest enthusiasm for a brief and retreat period pervaded the British troops. In several skirtowards mishes between the cavalry of the British and that of Dec. 1808. the French, the superiority of the former was strikingly of the army Galicia. evinced, particularly on the 20th December, when Lord Paget defeated a considerable body of the French hussars, and made a hundred and fifty-seven prisoners. But as it was known that Napoleon in person was hastening at the head of 50,000 men from Madrid, across the Guadarama Pass, to attack them in flank and threaten their rear, while Soult with 18,000 lay in their front, this bold line of action was of necessity abandoned; and, to the infinite mortification of the soldiers, orders were given to retreat towards Galicia. General Stewart with his brigade of hussars, consisting of the 10th, 18th, and 8th German dragoons, were intrusted with the arduous duty of covering the rear, and they were soon brought in contact with the very best horsemen in the French army, London consisting of the cavalry of the Imperial Guard, which had come up with the Emperor in person. This brought on a most brilliant cavalry action near Benavente, in which General Stewart particularly distinguished himself.1 derry's Pen- The rearguard had halted for the night in the little town of that name, under the shadow of the magnificent old castle, second to none in Europe, which it contains, |