General A general officer is an Officer (armed forces), officer of highest military ranks, high rank in the army, armies, and in some nations' air forces, space forces, and marines or naval infantry. In some usages the term "general officer" refers t ...

Sir Edward Harris Greathed KCB (8 June 1812 – 19 November 1881) was a

British Army The British Army is the principal land warfare force of the United Kingdom, a part of the British Armed Forces along with the Royal Navy and the Royal Air Force. , the British Army comprises 79,380 regular full-time personnel, 4,090 Gurk ...

officer who became General Officer Commanding Eastern District.

Military career

He was born in London, one of the five sons of Edward Harris and Mary Elizabeth Glyn of Uddens, Dorset and baptised in Chalbury, Dorset. One of his brothers became Major-General William Wilberforce Harris Greathed. He was educated at

Westminster School (God Gives the Increase) , established = Earliest records date from the 14th century, refounded in 1560 , type = Public school Independent day and boarding school , religion = Church of England , head_label = Hea ...

before being commissioned as an

ensign An ensign is the national flag flown on a vessel to indicate nationality. The ensign is the largest flag, generally flown at the stern (rear) of the ship while in port. The naval ensign (also known as war ensign), used on warships, may be diffe ...

in the

8th (The King's) Regiment of Foot The 8th (King's) Regiment of Foot, also referred to in short as the 8th Foot and the King's, was an infantry regiment of the British Army, formed in 1685 and retitled the King's (Liverpool Regiment) on 1 July 1881. As infantry of the line, the ...

on 22 June 1832. He rose through the ranks to become commanding officer of the 8th (The King's) Regiment of Foot and, in that capacity, commanded the a column which defeated and dispersed some 5,000 rebels at the

Battle of Agra The Battle of Agra was a comparatively minor but nevertheless decisive action during the Indian Rebellion of 1857. Indian rebels attacked a column of British troops which had relieved a garrison at Agra, but although they surprised the column, ...

in August 1857 during the

Indian Rebellion The Indian Rebellion of 1857 was a major uprising in India in 1857–58 against Company rule in India, the rule of the East India Company, British East India Company, which functioned as a sovereign power on behalf of the The Crown, British ...

. He then participated in the capture of Ludlow Castle in the vicinity of Kashmiri Gate in the northern walls of

Delhi Delhi, officially the National Capital Territory (NCT) of Delhi, is a city and a union territory of India containing New Delhi, the capital of India. Straddling the Yamuna river, primarily its western or right bank, Delhi shares borders w ...

. Grouped into the 2nd Column with the 2nd Bengal Fusiliers and 4th Sikhs, the 8th (The King's) Regiment of Foot attacked Delhi early on 14 September 1857 with the intent of capturing the Water Bastion and Kashmiri Gate. After this attack he led the 3rd Infantry Brigade at the

Relief of Lucknow The siege of Lucknow was the prolonged defence of the British Residency within the city of Lucknow from rebel sepoys (Indian soldiers in the British East India Company's Army) during the Indian Rebellion of 1857. After two successive relief att ...

in November 1857 and at the

Second Battle of Cawnpore The Second Battle of Cawnpore was a battle of Indian Rebellion of 1857 that was decisive by thwarting the rebels' last chance to regain the initiative and to recapture the cities of Cawnpore (now Kanpur) and Lucknow. Background During the ...

in December 1857 as well as the subsequent capture of

Tatya Tope Tantia Tope (also spelled Tatya Tope, : ̪aːt̪ʲa ʈoːpe 6 January 1814 – 18 April 1859) was a general in the Indian Rebellion of 1857 and one of its notable leaders. Despite lacking formal military training, Tantia Tope is widely consi ...

. He was made CB in 1858 and elevated to KCB on 28 March 1865. After his return to England, he went on to be General Officer Commanding Eastern District in April 1872. He was given the colonelcy of the 108th Regiment of Foot (Madras Infantry) in 1880 continuing, after its amalgamation later that year into the

Inniskilling Fusiliers The Royal Inniskilling Fusiliers was an Irish line infantry regiment of the British Army in existence from 1881 until 1968. The regiment was formed in 1881 by the amalgamation of the 27th (Inniskilling) Regiment of Foot and the 108th Regiment o ...

, as colonel of the 2nd Battalion of the new regiment until his death. He was promoted full general on 1 July 1880 and was placed on the retired list on 1 July 1881. He died at his home, Uddens House in Chalbury, Dorset on 19 November 1881 and was buried in nearby All Saints churchyard, Hampreston.

Family

He had married three times; firstly in India to Louisa Archer (née Hartwell) on 8 March 1854; secondly Ellen Mary Tuffnell on 18 December 1868 by whom he had a daughter, Helena Mary, born 26 April 1862, who married 1884, Major Keppel Stephenson; and thirdly Charlotte Frederica Caroline Osborn, eldest daughter of Sir George Robert Osborn, 6th Baronet on 4 August 1869. He had at least two sons by his early marriages, and one son and three daughters by his last marriage: *Edward Wilberforce Osborn Greathed, born 7 July 1870; died unmarried 2 December 1893 *Charlotte Elizabeth Greathed, born 3 May 1872, married Charles Bayley Oldfield, 6 November 1902 *Georgiana Laura Greathed, born 11 July 1874; died unmarried 11 April 1954 *Dorothy Louisa Greathed, born 16 February 1876; married 6 November 1902 Eric Hanbury-Tracy, son of

Frederick Hanbury-Tracy The Hon. Frederick Stephen Archibald Hanbury-Tracy (15 September 1848 – 9 August 1906), was a British politician. Life Hanbury-Tracy was a younger son of Thomas Hanbury-Tracy, 2nd Baron Sudeley, and his wife Emma Elizabeth Alicia, daughter ...

of the

Baron Sudeley Baron Sudeley is an unelected hereditary title that has been created three in the history of Britain, twice in the Peerage of England and once in the Peerage of the United Kingdom. The first creation came in the Peerage of England in 1299 when Jo ...

References

, - , - {{DEFAULTSORT:Greathed 1812 births 1881 deaths British Army generals Knights Commander of the Order of the Bath King's Regiment (Liverpool) officers