received reinforcements from Cairo, and cut to pieces a detachment of seven hundred men which he had placed at El Hamed, and he had to fight his way back to Alexandria, losing three hundred more on the road.
The expedition returned to Sicily in September, and Stewart was commandant of Syracuse till February 1809, when he came home. He had been promoted major-general on 25 April 1808, and on 31 Aug. 1809 he was made colonel of the 3rd battalion of the corps he had formed, the 95th rifles. He commanded the light brigade in the Walcheren expedition, but was invalided early in September.
In January 1810 he was sent to the Peninsula to command the British and Portuguese troops which were to form part of the garrison of Cadiz. He did well there, but was soon superseded in the chief command by Thomas Graham (afterwards Baron Lynedoch) [q. v.] In July he left Cadiz, and was appointed to the 2nd division of Wellington's army under Hill. He was present at Busaco, but could not obtain the medal, as he was not ‘personally and particularly engaged.’ In December Hill was invalided, and Stewart commanded his corps for a time, but his self-distrust led Wellington to send Beresford to take Hill's place.
In 1811, after Masséna's retreat, the 2nd division—still forming part of Beresford's corps—shared in the first siege of Badajoz, and bore the brunt of the battle of Albuera. The 1st brigade of it (Colborne's) was nearly destroyed there by a sudden attack of French lancers on its rear as it was advancing to charge the French infantry. According to Napier, this happened because ‘Stewart, whose boiling courage generally overlaid his judgment, heedlessly led up in column of companies,’ without waiting to deploy, as Colborne wished to do. But the charge was made by three deployed battalions (out of four), and, according to Sir Benjamin d'Urban, Beresford's quartermaster-general, Stewart's fault lay rather in rejecting Colborne's proposal to keep a wing of one regiment in column. There can be no doubt that his impetuosity had something to do with the result; but the urgency of the case and the mist which hid the French cavalry go far to excuse him. Beresford had nothing but praise for him in his despatch, and he was thanked by parliament. In July he went home on account of ill-health, and was employed in the eastern district.
In August 1812 he was again appointed to the army in the Peninsula, with the local rank of lieutenant-general. He joined on 6 Dec., and was given command of the 1st division. It comprised the brigade of guards, and a question of privilege soon arose, as he was not a guardsman. In April 1813 he was transferred to his old division, the 2nd. On 4 June he became lieutenant-general. At Vittoria he was on the right under Hill, who spoke highly of his conduct. He was included in the thanks of parliament, and was made K.B. on 11 Sept. When Soult tried to relieve Pampeluna, the 2nd division was guarding the passes near Maya, and was attacked on 25 July by three divisions of d'Erlon's corps, and forced back. Stewart reached the field late, having been at Elisondo with Hill, and reformed his line. Four Portuguese guns, which were moving by his order to the new position, stuck fast, and were taken by the French. Wellington referred with some asperity to the loss of these guns in a postscript to his despatch. Stewart took part in Hill's action at Buenza on the 30th, and next day he led the attack on the French rearguard at the Dona Maria pass. In this attack he was badly wounded, having been already slightly wounded on the 25th. He was present at the Nivelle, Nive, and Orthes, and had a prominent part in the combat of Aire and a minor part at Toulouse. He was popular with the men of his division, among whom he was known as ‘auld grog Willie’ on account of the extra allowances of rum which he authorised, and which Wellington made him pay for. For his services in the Peninsula he received the gold cross with two clasps, the Portuguese order of the Tower and Sword, and the Spanish order of San Fernando. On 2 Jan. 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. He 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, near the family seat. He died there on 7 Jan. 1827, and was buried at Minigaff. In 1804 he married Frances, daughter of the Hon. John Douglas (second son of the Earl of Morton), and he left one son, Horatio, a captain in the rifle brigade, and one daughter, Louisa.
[The Cumloden Papers, printed for private circulation in 1871, containing a memoir, with
