ROAD BUILDING IN SICILY IN THE NAPOLEONIC WARS STUART (Sir John, Count of Maida, 1759-1815, Lieutenant General during the Napoleonic Wars)

Fine Clerk Written Document Signed "J. Stuart Count of Maida Lt Gl" addressed to the Marquis of CIRCELLO (1737-1826, Sicilian Diplomat and Chief Minister) replying to his letter “relating to the formation of a carriageable Road in a new direction by the village of Gesso and to the immediate re-establishment of the direct route from Messina to Catania etc by the Road passing below Taormina. Upon the latter subject I have the honor to transmit to your Excellency the enclosed Report from Lt Colonel Bunbury, Quarter Master General of the Forces under my Command, who is well acquainted with the Road in question and with the position & Vicinity of Taormina. The reasons he adduces & the opinion expressed to the same effect by Major General Sherbrooke appears to me so satisfactory that I cannot but press upon Your Excellency the Expediency and necessity of sending orders to Taormina for the immediate & complete restoration of the lower Road. With Regard to the Road which it is proposed to lead in a new direction close to the Village of Gesso I have in consequence of your Excellency’s letter, given orders that no time should be lost in carrying it on, and I trust that the exertions of the British Officers & Detachments employed upon this important work will in the course of a few weeks render the Mountain of Gesso perfectly practicable for Artillery Communication... I cannot omit to embrace this opportunity of calling your Excellency’s particular attention to the important object of forming a permanently good Road, fit for every osrt of Carriage from Messina to Melazzo...”, 4 sides folio, Messina, 17th June

Stuart was born in Georgia, the son of Colonel John Stuart, superintendent of Indian affairs in the southern district, and a prominent loyalist in the War of Independence. Educated at Westminster School, the young Stuart entered the 3rd Foot Guards in 1778, and almost immediately returned to America with his regiment. He was present at the siege of Charleston, the battles of Camden and Guilford court-house, and the surrender of Yorktown, returning a regimental lieutenant and an army captain, as was then usual in the Guards. Ten years later, as captain and lieutenant-colonel, he was present with the Duke of York's army in the Netherlands and in northern France. He took part in the sieges and battles of the 1793 campaign, Valenciennes, Lincelles, Dunkirk and Lannoy. He continued to have a distinguished career right through the Napoleonic Wars.
After two years in command of a brigade in Kent, Stuart went with Sir James Craig to the Mediterranean. The British were employed, along with Lacy's Russians, in the defence of the kingdom of Naples but Austerlitz led to the recall of the Russian contingent, and the British soon afterwards evacuated Italy. Thus exposed, Naples fell to the advancing troops of Masséna but Gaeta still held out for King Ferdinand and Masséna's main force became locked up in the siege of this fortress. Stuart, who was in temporary command, realized the weakness of the French position in Calabria and on 1 July 1806 swiftly disembarked all his available forces in the Gulf of Saint Euphemia. On the 4th the British force, 4,800 strong, won the celebrated victory of Maida over Reynier's army. After this success, Stuart marched south and after a series of minor skirmishes, returned to Sicily as he felt his force was too weak to go onto a full offensive against Masséna's foothold in Naples. After besieging and taking the castle of Scylla, the force returned to Messina.

Item Date:  1808

Stock No:  42140      £325

             Add to Wish List     Order/Enquire