William Stewart

Lieutenant-General Sir William Stewart (1774–1827) was a British officer best known as the first commanding officer of the Rifle Corps and a divisional commander in the Peninsular War, rising from an ensign in the 42nd Foot at age twelve to a reformer of light infantry tactics; wounded in the West Indies and later serving in San Domingo and with Britain’s allies in 1799, he championed the creation of the 95th Rifles, introducing advanced standing orders that emphasized marksmanship, education, and soldier welfare, and went on to command at Copenhagen, Cadiz, Albuera—where he was wounded—and the Pyrenees, earning distinction though sometimes criticized for rashness, while also serving as a Member of Parliament and being made Knight Grand Cross of the Bath in 1815, before dying in 1827 remembered as both a capable commander and an innovator whose reforms shaped the future of the Rifle Brigade.