. In 1878 Stewart commanded the
Kandahar Field Force (also known as the Quetta Army). He led the march across harsh terrain and into several cavalry battles against Afghan forces on his way to occupying Kandahar in January 1879. He was promoted to commander in chief in India in April 1881 and to field marshal in 1894. He is shown here in the uniform of a lieutenant general. Stewart was
commissioned as an
ensign in the 9th
Bengal Native Infantry on 12 October 1840 and was promoted to
lieutenant on 3 January 1844 and to
captain on 1 June 1854. Later that year he served on the Aka Khel Expedition to the
North-West Frontier. and to
lieutenant-colonel on 20 July 1858. he commanded the Bengal brigade in the Abyssinian expedition in 1867. he became commandant of the
penal settlement of the
Andaman Islands, and was present when one of the inmates assassinated
Lord Mayo, British
Viceroy of India, in 1872. After being exonerated in the subsequent inquiry, he was appointed Commander of the troops at
Lahore in 1876. Stewart commanded a column during the
Second Anglo-Afghan War advancing through the
Bolan Pass to
Quetta, and then on to
Kandahar in January 1879. Stewart became Military member of the Council of the
Governor-General of India (effectively War Minister) in October 1880 and, having been promoted to full
general on 1 July 1881, he became
Commander-in-Chief, India in April 1881. In order to achieve efficiency savings he proposed merging the
Bengal Army,
Madras Army and
Bombay Army into a single military force but this was rejected by the
India Office. and became a member of the Royal Commission on Indian civil and military expenditure as well as
Governor of the
Royal Hospital Chelsea from 1895 until his death at
Algiers on 26 March 1900. His remains were brought home by the cruiser
HMS Juno, and buried in
Brompton Cemetery in
London. ==Family==