At the early age of sixteen he first saw service with the allied forces, under Frederick, Duke of York and the Prince of Orange (afterwards King William I of the Netherlands) which were employed in 1794 on the northern frontier of France.
[1] Stedman's next service was in 1799, when the Batavian Republic was in alliance with France, and the Duke of York commanded the opposing army at Bergen.
[1] In 1814 he attached himself to the Prince of Orange (afterwards King William II of the Netherlands), and commanded the Dutch troops in the reserve during the Battle of Waterloo, with the rank of lieutenant-general.
[1] Stedman married Nicola Gertrude van de Poll, granddaughter of the last reigning burgomaster of Amsterdam.
Their only son, Charles John William Stedman, became a Prussian subject, settling at Besselich Abbey, near Coblentz.