As a soldier for the Scots Brigade, a military unit fighting for the Netherlands, he left for Surinam in 1774 to help repress a revolt of former slaves. His book about this mission, "Narrative of a Five Years Expedition Against the Revolted Negroes of Surinam", describes many cruelties inflicted by slave owners on their slaves. Some of these cruelties are illustrated by drawings by William Blake and Francesco Bartolozzi. The book may have played a role in the abolitionist arguments against slavery, although Stedman himself was not necessarily against slavery, just against cruel treatment of slaves.