to the bay of St. Eufemia with his main force, sending the 20th regiment under Colonel Robert Ross [q. v.] to make a diversion by threatening Reggio and Scylla. Stuart disembarked, with slight opposition, on 1 July, and, in spite of a heavy surf, landed his guns and stores by the 3rd. On the 4th he marched to attack Reynier, who, with a superior force, had occupied a position below S. Pietro di Maida, a few miles away. During a critical part of the battle Ross, with the 20th regiment, arrived from Reggio, and Stuart gained a decisive victory.
Unfortunately Stuart (whose entire force amounted to no more than 4,800 men) had no cavalry with which to follow up his victory, or Reynier's army might have been completely destroyed. While the action was in progress Sir Sidney Smith arrived in his flagship. Stuart slept on board it that night, but neither he nor Sir Sidney Smith had the genius to grasp the possibilities of the situation, and to concert measures for a prompt move on Gaeta by land and sea to raise the siege. Stuart had intended only to strike a blow at the French in southern Calabria; he had done it ably and successfully, and he was content. Before returning to Sicily he undertook the siege of Scylla Castle. Operations were commenced on 12 July under the direction of Captain Charles Lefebure, commanding royal engineer, and continued until 23 July, when the place capitulated. Stuart arranged for the repairs of the castle, and for its occupation by a British garrison. Having destroyed other fortified posts, he returned with his expedition to Messina at the end of July. The British minister at Palermo informed the government of the high sense entertained by the Palermo court of Stuart's merits. For his brilliant operations he received the thanks of both houses of parliament and a pension of 1,000l. a year for life; he was made a knight of the Bath, created by the king of the two Sicilies Count of Maida, and he received the freedom of the city of London and a sword of honour. He was further appointed colonel of the 74th foot on 8 Sept. 1806.
On Stuart's arrival at Messina he found there General Fox, sent by the whig government to take the command of the land forces in the Mediterranean, and he learnt that large reinforcements were on their way from England under Lieutenant-general Sir John Moore (1761–1809) [q. v.], who was to be second in command. Stuart quite expected an officer senior to himself to be sent to take the command in succession to Craig, and he would have been well content to serve as second to General Fox; but to be relegated to a third place was distasteful to him, and soon after Moore's arrival he obtained leave to return home, arriving in England on 24 Nov. 1806.
On 29 Sept. 1807 Stuart was again sent to the Mediterranean as a major-general, and on 11 Feb. 1808 he was appointed to the chief command of the land forces in the Mediterranean, with the local rank of lieutenant-general. He was, however, promoted to be a lieutenant-general on the establishment on 25 April, and shortly after that date he proceeded to Messina. In the early part of October 1808 he received intelligence from Colonel (afterwards Sir) Hudson Lowe [q. v.], commandant at Capri, of Murat's attack on the island, and an urgent application for assistance. Stuart at once sent off reinforcements without waiting for a convoy, but, meeting with a gale, they did not reach Capri until 17 Oct., a few hours after Hudson Lowe had been obliged to capitulate.
In 1809 Stuart, in conjunction with Collingwood, decided on an expedition to the bay of Naples. He sailed on 11 June with upwards of eleven thousand men, convoyed by the fleet. At the same time he sent a force to attack the castle of Scylla to make a diversion, and for the better safety of Messina during his absence. This diversion was unsuccessful, and the siege was abandoned. In the meantime Stuart, delayed by calms, did not arrive in the bay of Naples until 24 June. The following day he disembarked his troops on the island of Ischia, and, with the exception of the castle, carried it by assault. Procida was then summoned and surrendered. The following day twenty-four of Murat's gunboats were captured and five destroyed. The castle of Ischia was then besieged, and surrendered on 30 June.
Collingwood having represented to Stuart that there was fresh activity at Toulon, where the French had a large fleet, and that the British ships and transports were not secure at the Ischia anchorage against the sudden attack of the superior fleet, Stuart re-embarked and returned with his army to Messina.
Stuart's despatches to Lord Liverpool at this time showed grave mistrust of the intentions of the court of Palermo and of the Sicilian troops. Murat was making considerable preparations for the invasion of Sicily, and Stuart pointed out to Lord Liverpool the inefficiency of the Sicilian army, militia, and marine. Some twenty-five thousand French troops were massed at
