The grave of Sir Walter Raleigh Gilbert, Kensal Green Cemetery

General A general officer is an officer of high rank in the armies, and in some nations' air forces, space forces, and marines or naval infantry. In some usages the term "general officer" refers to a rank above colonel."general, adj. and n.". O ...

Sir Walter Raleigh Gilbert, 1st Baronet, (18 March 1785,

Bodmin Bodmin () is a town and civil parish in Cornwall, England, United Kingdom. It is situated south-west of Bodmin Moor. The extent of the civil parish corresponds fairly closely to that of the town so is mostly urban in character. It is borde ...

– 12 May 1853, Stevens' Hotel,

Bond Street Bond Street in the West End of London links Piccadilly in the south to Oxford Street in the north. Since the 18th century the street has housed many prestigious and upmarket fashion retailers. The southern section is Old Bond Street and the ...

, London) was an army officer in the

British East India Company The East India Company (EIC) was an English, and later British, joint-stock company founded in 1600 and dissolved in 1874. It was formed to trade in the Indian Ocean region, initially with the East Indies (the Indian subcontinent and South ...

Life

He was the third son of the Reverend Edmund Gilbert (d. 1816), Vicar of Constantine and Rector of

Helland Helland ( kw, Hellann) is a civil parish and village in Cornwall, England, United Kingdom. It is situated north of Bodmin. The meaning of the name Helland is unclear: it is possible that the origin is in Cornish ''hen'' & ''lan'' (i.e. old ch ...

, Cornwall, and his wife, the daughter of Henry Garnett of Bristol. Like Sir

Humphrey Gilbert Sir Humphrey Gilbert (c. 1539 – 9 September 1583) was an English adventurer, explorer, member of parliament and soldier who served during the reign of Queen Elizabeth I and was a pioneer of the English colonial empire in North America ...

, he was a member of the Devon family of Gilbert of Compton and he was named after Sir Humphrey's stepbrother Sir

Walter Raleigh Sir Walter Raleigh (; – 29 October 1618) was an English statesman, soldier, writer and explorer. One of the most notable figures of the Elizabethan era, he played a leading part in English colonisation of North America, suppressed rebelli ...

. He gained a cadetship in the Bengal Infantry in 1800, and in September the following year was posted to the 15th

Bengal Native Infantry The regiments of Bengal Native Infantry, alongside the regiments of Bengal European Infantry, were the regular infantry components of the East India Company's Bengal Army from the raising of the first Native battalion in 1757 to the passing int ...

(commanded by Colonel John Macdonald) as ensign. Arriving in

India India, officially the Republic of India (Hindi: ), is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by area, seventh-largest country by area, the List of countries and dependencies by population, second-most populous ...

in October 1801, he then became Lieutenant on 12 September 1803 and Captain on 16 April 1810. Participating in the defeat of Perron's brigades at

Koil ''Koil'' or ''Koyil'' or ''Kovil'', (meaning: residence of GodThe modern Tamil word for Hindu temple is ''kōvil'' ( ta, கோவில்) meaning "the residence of God". In ancient Tamil Nadu, the king (, ''Kō'') was considered to be a � ...

Aligarh Aligarh (; formerly known as Allygarh, and Kol) is a city in the state of Uttar Pradesh in India. It is the administrative headquarters of Aligarh district, and lies northwest of state capital Lucknow and approximately southeast of the cap ...

, the battles 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 ...

Laswari The Battle of Laswari took place on 1 November 1803 near Laswari village, Alwar. It was part of the Second Anglo-Maratha War. The British under Gerard Lake were anxious to finish the war by neutralizing the last substantial force that the Marat ...

and the storming of

Agra Agra (, ) is a city on the banks of the Yamuna river in the Indian state of Uttar Pradesh, about south-east of the national capital New Delhi and 330 km west of the state capital Lucknow. With a population of roughly 1.6 million, Agra ...

. He also attracted the attention of Lord Lake by his participation in the four unsuccessful attacks on Bharatpur. In 1814, in

Calcutta Kolkata (, or , ; also known as Calcutta , the official name until 2001) is the capital of the Indian state of West Bengal, on the eastern bank of the Hooghly River west of the border with Bangladesh. It is the primary business, commer ...

, he married Isabella Rose Ross, the daughter of Thomas Ross, a major in the

Royal Artillery The Royal Regiment of Artillery, commonly referred to as the Royal Artillery (RA) and colloquially known as "The Gunners", is one of two regiments that make up the artillery arm of the British Army. The Royal Regiment of Artillery comprises t ...

- the marriage produced

Sir Francis Hastings Gilbert, 2nd Baronet ''Sir'' is a formal honorific address in English for men, derived from Sire in the High Middle Ages. Both are derived from the old French "Sieur" (Lord), brought to England by the French-speaking Normans, and which now exist in French only as ...

in 1816 (later British consul at Scutari), Geraldine Adelaide (b. 1830 in Bodmin). Next he was successively Barrack-Master and Cantonment Magistrate at

Cawnpore Kanpur or Cawnpore ( /kɑːnˈpʊər/ pronunciation (help·info)) is an industrial city in the central-western part of the state of Uttar Pradesh, India. Founded in 1207, Kanpur became one of the most important commercial and military stations ...

, Commandant of the Calcutta native militia, and Commandant of the Ramgarh local battalion. Promoted to Major on 12 November 1820, he then became Lieutenant-Colonel of the newly formed 39th Bengal native infantry in 1824, Colonel of the 35th native infantry and of the 1st Bengal European Fusiliers in 1832, Major-General in June 1838 and finally Lieutenant-General in November 1851. During the

First Anglo-Sikh War The First Anglo-Sikh War was fought between the Sikh Empire and the British East India Company in 1845 and 1846 in and around the Ferozepur district of Punjab. It resulted in defeat and partial subjugation of the Sikh empire and cession o ...

he commanded a division of

Sir Hugh Gough Field Marshal Hugh Gough, 1st Viscount Gough, (3 November 1779 – 2 March 1869) was an Irish officer of the British Army. After serving as a junior officer at the seizure of the Cape of Good Hope during the French Revolutionary Wars, Gough co ...

's army at the battles of

Mudki Mudki, also spelled as Moodkee, is a town in Punjab state of India. This town lies in Ferozepur district. Mudki has been famous for the Battle of Mudki, which took place in 1845 between the British and Sikh armies. In memory of Sikh soldiers wh ...

and Ferozeshahr (December 1845), and at Sobraon (10 February 1846) - Gough mentioned him favourably in his dispatches. Memorial to Walter Raleigh Gilbert, Bodmin

Memorial to Walter Raleigh Gilbert, Bodmin

He was made a KCB in April 1846 and again commanded a division under Gough in 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 ...

, at the 1849 battles of Chilianwala and Gujrat before leading his division (which included Robert Napier) across the

Jhelum River The Jhelum River (/dʒʰeːləm/) is a river in the northern Indian subcontinent. It originates at Verinag and flows through the Indian administered territory of Jammu and Kashmir, to the Pakistani-administered territory of Kashmir, and then ...

to pursue the remnants of the Sikh army and receiving their surrender in

Rawalpindi Rawalpindi ( or ; Urdu, ) is a city in the Punjab province of Pakistan. It is the fourth largest city in Pakistan after Karachi, Lahore and Faisalabad, and third largest in Punjab after Lahore and Faisalabad. Rawalpindi is next to Pakistan ...

on 3 and 6 March. He next pursued the Sikhs' Afghan allies from

Attock Attock (Punjabi and Urdu: ), formerly known as Campbellpur (), is a historical city located in the north of Pakistan's Punjab Province, not far from the country's capital Islamabad. It is the headquarters of the Attock District and is 61st lar ...

right up to the

Khyber Pass The Khyber Pass (خیبر درہ) is a mountain pass in the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province of Pakistan, on the border with the Nangarhar Province of Afghanistan. It connects the town of Landi Kotal to the Valley of Peshawar at Jamrud by traversing p ...

, and in reward was appointed GCB in June 1849 and a Baronet in 1850. Becoming known as a sportsman as well as a soldier in

, on his death a memorial obelisk was erected on the Bodmin Beacon, though his baronetcy became extinct on his son Francis's death. Sir Walter is buried on the west side of the southern section of the central north-south path in

Kensal Green Cemetery Kensal Green Cemetery is a cemetery in the Kensal Green area of Queens Park in the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea in London, England. Inspired by Père Lachaise Cemetery in Paris, it was founded by the barrister George Frederick ...

London London is the capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary dow ...

References

External links

*
www.cornwall-calling.co.uk
{{DEFAULTSORT:Gilbert, Walter 1785 births 1853 deaths British East India Company Army generals British military personnel of the First Anglo-Sikh War British military personnel of the Second Anglo-Sikh War People from Bodmin Knights Grand Cross of the Order of the Bath Baronets in the Baronetage of the United Kingdom British military personnel of the Second Anglo-Maratha War Burials at Kensal Green Cemetery