William Havelock, KH (1793–1848) was a cavalry officer in the

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 ...

, rising to the rank of lieutenant-colonel.

Life

He was the eldest son of William Havelock of Ingress Park,

Kent Kent is a county in South East England and one of the home counties. It borders Greater London to the north-west, Surrey to the west and East Sussex to the south-west, and Essex to the north across the estuary of the River Thames; it faces ...

, and brother of

Sir Henry Havelock Major-General Sir Henry Havelock (5 April 1795 – 24 November 1857) was a British general who is particularly associated with India and his recapture of Cawnpore during the Indian Rebellion of 1857 (First War of Independence, Sepoy Mutiny). E ...

and of Colonel Charles Havelock of the 16th Lancers. He was born on 23 January 1793 and was educated at Charterhouse School and under a private tutor. On 12 July 1810 he was appointed ensign 43rd Light Infantry, in which he became lieutenant in 1812. In the

Peninsular War The Peninsular War (1807–1814) was the military conflict fought in the Iberian Peninsula by Spain, Portugal, and the United Kingdom against the invading and occupying forces of the First French Empire during the Napoleonic Wars. In Spain ...

, he carried one of the colours of the 43rd at the passage of the Coa River in 1810, and was present in all the subsequent actions in which the

Light Division The Light Division was a light infantry division of the British Army. Its origins lay in "Light Companies" formed during the late 18th century, to move at speed over inhospitable terrain and protect a main force with skirmishing tactics. These ...

was engaged, spending time as aide-de-camp to Major-General Charles, Baron Alten, commanding the division. At the combat of Vera in October 1813, a Spanish force was held in check by an

abattis An abatis, abattis, or abbattis is a field fortification consisting of an obstacle formed (in the modern era) of the branches of trees laid in a row, with the sharpened tops directed outwards, towards the enemy. The trees are usually interlaced ...

defended by two French regiments. Havelock, who had been sent to ascertain their progress, called on the Spanish to follow him, and went headlong among the enemy. The Spanish broke through the French, as their centre was under the fire of

James Kempt General Sir James Kempt, ( – 20 December 1854) was a British Army officer, who served in the Netherlands, Egypt, Italy, the Peninsula, and British North America during the Napoleonic Wars. He led a British brigade at the Battle of Waterloo and ...

's skirmishers. Havelock was Alten's aide-de-camp at the

battle of Waterloo The Battle of Waterloo was fought on Sunday 18 June 1815, near Waterloo, Belgium, Waterloo (at that time in the United Kingdom of the Netherlands, now in Belgium). A French army under the command of Napoleon was defeated by two of the armie ...

and at the occupation of Paris. In 1818, he obtained a company in the 32nd Foot, and served with the corps in Corfu. Later he exchanged to the 4th Light Dragoons, with which he went to India. He was some time aide-de-camp to Sir Charles Colville when commander-in-chief at

Bombay Mumbai (, ; also known as Bombay — the official name until 1995) is the capital city of the Indian state of Maharashtra and the ''de facto'' financial centre of India. According to the United Nations, as of 2018, Mumbai is the second-m ...

, and was military secretary to

John Elphinstone, 13th Lord Elphinstone John Elphinstone, 13th Lord Elphinstone, 1st Baron Elphinstone, (23 June 1807 – 19 July 1860) was a Scottish soldier, politician and colonial administrator. He was twice elected to the Parliament of the United Kingdom as a Scottish Representati ...

while

Governor of Madras This is a list of the governors, agents, and presidents of colonial Madras, initially of the English East India Company, up to the end of British colonial rule in 1947. English Agents In 1639, the grant of Madras to the English was finalized b ...

. He became major 4th Light Dragoons in 1830, and exchanging into the 14th Light Dragoons, became lieutenant-colonel of that regiment in 1841. He commanded it in the field under Sir Charles Napier, and with the Bombay troops sent to reinforce

Lord Gough Field marshal (United Kingdom), Field Marshal Hugh Gough, 1st Viscount Gough, (3 November 1779 – 2 March 1869) was an Irish people, Irish officer of the British Army. After serving as a junior officer at the Invasion of the Cape Colony, seizur ...

's army during the

Second Anglo-Sikh War The Second Anglo-Sikh War was a military conflict between the Sikh Empire and the British East India Company that took place in 1848 and 1849. It resulted in the fall of the Sikh Empire, and the annexation of the Punjab and what subsequently ...

. He fell mortally wounded at the head of his regiment in a charge on the Sikhs at the

battle of Ramnagar The Battle of Ramnagar (sometimes referred to as the Battle of Rumnuggur) was fought on 22 November 1848 between British East India Company and Sikh Empire forces during the Second Anglo-Sikh War. The British were led by Sir Hugh Gough, while t ...

, on the banks of the

River Chenab The Chenab River () is a major river that flows in India and Pakistan, and is one of the 5 major rivers of the Punjab region. It is formed by the union of two headwaters, Chandra and Bhaga, which rise in the upper Himalayas in the Lahaul regi ...

, on 22 November 1848. Heavily wounded, after eleven of his troopers had been killed beside him, he was left for dead on the field. In 1824 Havelock married Caroline Elizabeth, daughter of Acton Chaplin of Aylesbury, by whom he had 13 children including the colonial governor Sir

Arthur Havelock Sir Arthur Elibank Havelock, (7 May 1844 – 25 June 1908) was a career British colonial governor, serving as Governor of Sierra Leone from 1880, of KwaZulu-Natal Province, Natal, of Madras, of Ceylon from 1890 to 1895, and of Tasmania from ...

References

;Attribution {{DEFAULTSORT:Havelock, William 1793 births 1848 deaths People educated at Charterhouse School 4th Queen's Own Hussars officers 43rd Regiment of Foot officers 32nd Regiment of Foot officers British military personnel killed in the Second Anglo-Sikh War British Army personnel of the Napoleonic Wars