General A general officer is an Officer (armed forces), officer of high rank in the army, armies, and in some nations' air force, air and space forces, marines or naval infantry. In some usages, the term "general officer" refers to a rank above colone ...

Clement Alexander Edwards CB (12 November 1812 – 29 July 1882) was a

British Army The British Army is the principal Army, land warfare force of the United Kingdom. the British Army comprises 73,847 regular full-time personnel, 4,127 Brigade of Gurkhas, Gurkhas, 25,742 Army Reserve (United Kingdom), volunteer reserve perso ...

officer who became the colonel of the

2nd (The Queen's Royal) Regiment of Foot The Queen's Royal Regiment (West Surrey) was a line infantry regiment of the English and later the British Army from 1661 to 1959. It was the senior English line infantry regiment of the British Army, behind only the Royal Scots in the British Arm ...

Military career

Born in London, Edwards was the son of Colonel C. M. Edwards, the military secretary to the Duke of York. Educated at the

Royal Military College, Sandhurst The Royal Military College (RMC) was a United Kingdom, British military academy for training infantry and cavalry Officer (armed forces), officers of the British Army, British and British Indian Army, Indian Armies. It was founded in 1801 at Gre ...

, he was commissioned as an

ensign Ensign most often refers to: * Ensign (flag), a flag flown on a vessel to indicate nationality * Ensign (rank), a navy (and former army) officer rank Ensign or The Ensign may also refer to: Places * Ensign, Alberta, Alberta, Canada * Ensign, Ka ...

in the

31st Regiment of Foot The 31st (Huntingdonshire) Regiment of Foot was an infantry regiment of the British Army, raised in 1702. Under the Childers Reforms it amalgamated with the 70th (Surrey) Regiment of Foot to form the East Surrey Regiment in 1881. History Origins ...

on 11 June 1829. He saw action with the

18th Regiment of Foot 18 (eighteen) is the natural number following 17 and preceding 19. It is an even composite number. Mathematics 18 is a semiperfect number and an abundant number. It is a largely composite number, as it has 6 divisors and no smaller number ha ...

at the Battle of Canton in March 1841, the Battle of Amoy in August 1841, the

Battle of Chapu The Battle of Chapu was fought between British and Qing forces at Chapu (present-day Zhapu) on the northern shore of Hangzhou Bay during the First Opium War. Battle Before the attack, the British commander, Major General Hugh Gough divid ...

in May 1841, the Battle of Woosung in June 1842, and the

Battle of Chinkiang The Battle of Chinkiang () was fought between British and Chinese forces in Zhenjiang (Chinkiang), Jiangsu province, China, on 21July 1842 during the First Opium War. It was the last major battle of the war. The Chinese force consisted of a garr ...

in July 1842 during the

First Opium War The First Opium War ( zh, t=第一次鴉片戰爭, p=Dìyīcì yāpiàn zhànzhēng), also known as the Anglo-Chinese War, was a series of military engagements fought between the British Empire and the Chinese Qing dynasty between 1839 and 1 ...

. Edwards became Assistant Quartermaster-General in China in December 1842 and then saw action in Burma in the autumn of 1851 during the

Second Anglo-Burmese War The Second Anglo-Burmese War or the Second Burma War ( ; 5 April 185220 January 1853) was the second of the three wars fought between the Burmese Empire and British Empire during the 19th century. The war resulted in a British victory with more ...

. He also took part in the Siege of Sevastopol in the winter of 1854 during the

Crimean War The Crimean War was fought between the Russian Empire and an alliance of the Ottoman Empire, the Second French Empire, the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland, and the Kingdom of Sardinia (1720–1861), Kingdom of Sardinia-Piedmont fro ...

and commanded a brigade at

Mhow Mhow, officially Dr. Ambedkar Nagar, is a town in the Indore district in Madhya Pradesh state of India. It is located south-west of Indore city, towards Mumbai on the old -Agra Mumbai Road. It is the birthplace of Babasaheb B. R. Ambedkar . ...

during the

Indian Rebellion 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 ...

. He went on to be Inspecting Field Officer in

Bristol Bristol () is a City status in the United Kingdom, cathedral city, unitary authority area and ceremonial county in South West England, the most populous city in the region. Built around the River Avon, Bristol, River Avon, it is bordered by t ...

in April 1866 and Inspector-General of Recruiting at the

War Office The War Office has referred to several British government organisations throughout history, all relating to the army. It was a department of the British Government responsible for the administration of the British Army between 1857 and 1964, at ...

in July 1867. Edwards became colonel of the

on 15 March 1877 and colonel of the

on 25 March 1877. He died on 29 July 1882 at Leeson House, Blackheath, England.General Edwards, C.B.
. London Ancestor. Retrieved 20 July 2016.

References

, - {{DEFAULTSORT:Edwards, Clement 1812 births 1882 deaths Military personnel from London Graduates of the Royal Military College, Sandhurst East Surrey Regiment officers British military personnel of the Second Anglo-Burmese War British military personnel of the First Opium War British Army personnel of the Crimean War British military personnel of the Indian Rebellion of 1857 British Army generals Companions of the Order of the Bath