Charles Stedman (1753 – 26 June 1812) was a

British Army The British Army is the principal Army, land warfare force of the United Kingdom. the British Army comprises 73,847 regular full-time personnel, 4,127 Brigade of Gurkhas, Gurkhas, 25,742 Army Reserve (United Kingdom), volunteer reserve perso ...

officer who fought in the

American War of Independence The American Revolutionary War (April 19, 1775 – September 3, 1783), also known as the Revolutionary War or American War of Independence, was the armed conflict that comprised the final eight years of the broader American Revolution, in which Am ...

and afterwards wrote a detailed history on the conflict.

Biography

Charles Stedman, born at

Philadelphia Philadelphia ( ), colloquially referred to as Philly, is the List of municipalities in Pennsylvania, most populous city in the U.S. state of Pennsylvania and the List of United States cities by population, sixth-most populous city in the Unit ...

in 1753, was the second son of Alexander Stedman (1703–1794) and Elizabeth Chancellor. Stedman was educated for the law at the

College of William & Mary The College of William & Mary (abbreviated as W&M) is a public university, public research university in Williamsburg, Virginia, United States. Founded in 1693 under a royal charter issued by King William III of England, William III and Queen ...

Virginia Virginia, officially the Commonwealth of Virginia, is a U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern and Mid-Atlantic (United States), Mid-Atlantic regions of the United States between the East Coast of the United States ...

. Like his father, he remained loyal to the British crown, and, on the start of the

, he was appointed commissary to the troops under the command of Sir William Howe. His knowledge of the German language, presumably acquired from early intercourse with the numerous German settlers in Pennsylvania, stood him in good stead, both as interpreter with the Hessian auxiliaries, and afterwards as commander of a rifle corps of colonists from the Palatinate. He was twice taken prisoner, and sentenced to be hanged as a rebel; but on each occasion he managed to escape, once from the same prison that held the ill-fated Major

John André Major John André (May 2, 1750 – October 2, 1780) was a British Army officer who served as the head of Britain's intelligence operations during the American War for Independence. In September 1780, he negotiated with Continental Army offic ...

. He was also twice severely wounded. On the conclusion of peace in 1783, he retired to England on the half-pay of a colonel. He was one of those appointed to examine and settle the claims of the American loyalists. Through the influence of the

Lord Cornwallis Charles Cornwallis, 1st Marquess Cornwallis (31 December 1738 – 5 October 1805) was a British Army officer, Whigs (British political party), Whig politician and colonial administrator. In the United States and United Kingdom, he is best kn ...

, Lord Rawdon's predecessor in the command, Stedman was in 1797, appointed to the office of deputy controller and accountant-general of the revenue of stamps, with reversion to the chief controllership, which, however, never fell in. He died on 26 June 1812, and was buried at Paddington.

Family

Stedman married Mary Bowen, by whom he had one son, John, who became judge of the court of admiralty at Gibraltar, and compiled a genealogical memoir of the family (1857).

Bibliography

In 1794 Stedman's ''History of the Origin, Progress, and Termination of the American War'' (2 vols. London, 4to, with folding maps and plans; and in the same year 2 vols., Dublin, 8vo) was published, which still remains the standard work on the subject. It is dedicated to Lord Rawdon,

Earl of Moira Earl () is a rank of the nobility in the United Kingdom. In modern Britain, an earl is a member of the peerage, ranking below a marquess and above a viscount. A feminine form of ''earl'' never developed; instead, ''countess'' is used. The titl ...

, his former commander-in-chief. Shortly after it appeared Sir Henry Clinton printed ''Some Observations upon Mr. Stedman's History'' (4to, 1794), which impugn the author's accuracy on minor points; but these strictures appear to have been prompted mainly by personal feeling.

Notes

References

* Endnotes: **John Stedman's ''Memoir of the Family of Barton, continued through that of Stedman'', privately printed, 1857 ** {{DEFAULTSORT:Stedman, Charles 1753 births 1812 deaths College of William & Mary alumni British Army officers British Army personnel of the American Revolutionary War