BY ALEXANDER JAMES STRACHAN (FL. 1799-1850), LONDON, 1809

LIEUTENANT-GENERAL SIR WILLIAM STEWART
Sir William Stewart played a significant and celebrated role during the Peninsular War. He received accolades for his bravery and leadership, notably 'Stewart's Stand' against the French at the Battle of Vittoria in 1813. The current lot commemorates an earlier period of Sir William's service, just before the ill fated Walcheren Expedition where he led the Light Brigade. Having been based in Sicily in 1806 he was posted to Egypt in 1807 where he served under Lieutenant-General McKensie Fraser. After he returned to Sicily in 1808 he held command positions at Syracuse and Faro, being made a Major-General in April that year.

The 1st battalion of the 62nd Regiment presented General Stewart with this gold snuff-box to commemorate his time in Sicily and Egypt. It was given in person by Colonel, later Major General, Trevor Hull, the Commanding Officer, with a note dated 18 February 1809, which read 'I have been requested by the officers of the 1st battalion 62d Regiment to beg your acceptance of a snuff-box; and while they present this small testimony of their high respect and esteem, I feel much pleasure in expressing the sense they entertain of the important advantages which have accrued to them as a corps, while under the directions of that ability and talent which, though they soon lose, they will long remember.'

Sir William entered the army an ensign in the 42nd Regiment of Foot in 1786, later becoming a lieutenant in the 67th Regiment. Sir William's early career involved diplomatic missions in Vienna and military service in various locations such as the West Indies, the Windward Islands, England, France, St. Domingo, Prussia, Switzerland, and Italy. He played a role in the formation of the Rifle Corps in 1800 as Lieutenant-Colonel and received the thanks of Parliament for his service in the Baltic. Following the Battle of Copenhagen in 1801, he was promoted to full Colonel. Sir William Stewart was made a Knight of the Bath in 1813 and was further honoured with the G.C.B. in 1815. During his career, he served in seventeen foreign campaigns and was wounded on a number of occasions. He died in 1827 at Cumloden, near Newton Stewart, Wigtownshire, the seat he had acquired in 1817 on his retirement.