General Sir Charles Pyndar Beauchamp Walker, (7 October 1817 – 19 January 1894) was a senior officer in the British Army.

Military career

He was born in

Redland, Bristol Redland is a neighbourhood in Bristol, England. The neighbourhood is situated between Clifton, Bristol, Clifton, Cotham, Bristol, Cotham, Bishopston, Bristol, Bishopston and Westbury Park, Bristol, Westbury Park. The boundaries of the district ...

, the eldest son of industrialist and later

Mayor of Bristol The Mayor of Bristol was the political leader of Bristol City Council. The mayor was a directly elected politician who, along with the 70 members of Bristol City Council, was responsible for the strategic government of the city of Bristol, En ...

Charles Ludlow Walker . He was educated at

Winchester College Winchester College is an English Public school (United Kingdom), public school (a long-established fee-charging boarding school for pupils aged 13–18) with some provision for day school, day attendees, in Winchester, Hampshire, England. It wa ...

and commissioned as an ensign in the 33rd Foot on 27 February 1836. He was promoted lieutenant in 1839 and captain in 1846. He served with the regiment at Gibraltar, the West Indies and North America before transferring to the

7th Dragoon Guards The 7th (The Princess Royal's) Dragoon Guards was a cavalry regiment in the British Army, first raised in 1688 as Lord Cavendish's Regiment of Horse. It was renamed as the 8th Horse in 1694 and the 7th (The Princess Royal's) Dragoon Guards for ...

in 1849. In 1854 he was in the

Crimea Crimea ( ) is a peninsula in Eastern Europe, on the northern coast of the Black Sea, almost entirely surrounded by the Black Sea and the smaller Sea of Azov. The Isthmus of Perekop connects the peninsula to Kherson Oblast in mainland Ukrain ...

as Aide-de-Camp to Lord Lucan, commander of the cavalry division. After being present at the battles of

Alma Alma or ALMA may refer to: Arts and entertainment * ''Alma'' (film), a 2009 Spanish short animated film * ''Alma'', an upcoming film by Sally Potter * ''Alma'' (Oswald de Andrade novel), 1922 * ''Alma'' (Le Clézio novel), 2017 * ''Alma'' ( ...

, Balaclava, and

Inkerman Inkerman (; ; ) is a city in the Crimean peninsula. It is '' de facto'' within the federal city of Sevastopol within the Russian Federation, but ''de jure'' within the Autonomous Republic of Crimea within Ukraine. It lies 5 kilometres (3 miles ...

, he was transferred aboard ship as ADC to Lord George Paulet and was present aboard HMS ''Bellerophon'' for the naval attack on Sebastopol. He was awarded the

Crimea Medal The Crimea Medal was a campaign medal approved on 15 December 1854, for issue to officers and men of British units (land and naval) which fought in the Crimean War of 1854–1856 against Russia. The medal was awarded with the British version of ...

with four clasps, the Turkish medal, and the

Order of the Medjidie Order of the Medjidie (, August 29, 1852 – 1922) was a military and civilian order of the Ottoman Empire. The order was instituted in 1851 by Sultan Abdulmejid I. History Instituted in 1851, the order was awarded in five classes, with the Firs ...

(fifth class). In 1854, he was promoted major and left the Crimea the following year to serve as Assistant Quartermaster-General (AQMG) in Ireland as a lieutenant-colonel. In 1858 he joined the

2nd Dragoon Guards The 2nd Dragoon Guards (Queen's Bays) was a cavalry regiment of the British Army. It was first raised in 1685 by the Earl of Peterborough as the Earl of Peterborough's Regiment of Horse by merging four existing troops of horse. Renamed several ...

to help put down the

Indian Mutiny The Indian Rebellion of 1857 was a major uprising in India in 1857–58 against the rule of the British East India Company, which functioned as a sovereign power on behalf of the British Crown. The rebellion began on 10 May 1857 in the form ...

, commanding a field force in

Oudh The Kingdom of Awadh (, , also Oudh State, Kingdom of Oudh, Awadh Subah, or Awadh State) was a Mughal subah, then an independent kingdom, and lastly a British protectorate in the Awadh region of North India until its annexation by the Br ...

which successfully engaged the rebels at Bangaon and seeing action at the Jirwah Pass under Sir

James Hope Grant General Sir James Hope Grant, GCB (22 July 1808 – 7 March 1875) was a British Army officer. He served in the First Opium War, First Anglo-Sikh War, Indian Rebellion of 1857, and Second Opium War. Early life Grant was the fifth and you ...

. In 1860, he was posted to China as AQMG of cavalry in Sir Hope Grant's expedition and was present at the actions of Sinho, Chankiawan, and Palikao, narrowly escaping death in an ambush when reconnoitring for a campsite outside Peking. He became a colonel in the army the same year. He returned home in 1861 to be AQMG at

Shorncliffe Army Camp Shorncliffe Army Camp is a British Army installation near Cheriton in Kent, established in 1794. The camp, described as "the birthplace of the modern British Army", previously consisted of Ross Barracks, Burgoyne Barracks, Somerset Barracks, Na ...

but in 1865 was appointed military attache to the embassy at Berlin, a post he held until 1876. During the Austro-Prussian war of 1866 and the Franco-German war of 1870-1 he acted as British military commissioner to the Crown Prince of Prussia's army and was present at the battles of Weissenburg, Wörth, Sedan and the Siege of Paris. He was promoted major-general in 1873 and lieutenant-general in 1877. He left the post in Berlin to be Inspector-General of military education until 1884, when he retired with the honorary rank of full general. He was awarded KCB in 1881 and later that year given the colonelcy of the 2nd Dragoon Guards, a position he held until his death. He died in London on 19 Jan 1894, and was buried in

Brompton Cemetery Brompton Cemetery (originally the West of London and Westminster Cemetery) is since 1852 the first (and only) London cemetery to be Crown Estate, Crown property, managed by The Royal Parks, in West Brompton in the Royal Borough of Kensington a ...

. He had married Georgiana, daughter of Captain Richard Armstrong of the 100th Foot. Extracts from his letters and journals during active service were published after his death under the title "Days of a Soldier's Life".

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Walker, Charles Pyndar Beauchamp British Army personnel of the Crimean War British military personnel of the Indian Rebellion of 1857 British military personnel of the Second Opium War British Army generals Knights Commander of the Order of the Bath 2nd Dragoon Guards (Queen's Bays) officers Duke of Wellington's Regiment officers 7th Dragoon Guards officers 1817 births 1894 deaths Burials at Brompton Cemetery Military personnel from Bristol People educated at Winchester College