Major-General Walter Fane (1828–1885) was a British Indian Army officer who served in Central India on the North West Frontier as well as in China during the Opium Wars. Fane raised a troop of irregular cavalry to fight in China made up of Indian volunteers and they went on to become Fane's Horse, a regiment that remains part of Pakistan's armed forces.

Life

Walter Fane, a member of the

Fane family Fane is an English surname of Welsh origins that belongs to a family who have produced a number of notable members. The family originated with Ivon Vane, who was a Welsh landowner and mercenary captain in the service of the Black Prince. Ivon Va ...

, was born in 1828 in

Fulbeck Fulbeck is a small village and civil parish in the South Kesteven district of Lincolnshire, England. The population (including Byards Leap) taken at the 2011 census was 513. The village is on the A607 road, A607, north from Grantham and north-w ...

Lincolnshire. He was the son of the Rev. Edward Fane of

Fulbeck Hall Fulbeck is a small village and civil parish in the South Kesteven district of Lincolnshire, England. The population (including Byards Leap) taken at the 2011 census was 513. The village is on the A607, north from Grantham and north-west from S ...

Army career

Walter Fane - pencil study of two Indian soldiers

He entered the army in 1845 and became a lieutenant in 1853. He served in the Punjab Irregular Cavalry on the North West frontier where they fought a number of engagements against the hill tribes. 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 ...

Fane fought against

Tantya Tope Tantia Tope (also spelled Tatya Tope, : ̪aːt̪ʲa ʈoːpe 16 February 1814 — 18 April 1859) was a notable commander in the Indian Rebellion of 1857. Early life Born as Ramachandra Panduranga Yewalkar to a Marathi Deshastha Brahmin famil ...

and he was present when the Indian rebel leader was captured and executed. In 1860 Fane raised the irregular cavalry force of Fane's Horse to fight in China during the

Second Opium War The Second Opium War (), also known as the Second Anglo-Chinese War or ''Arrow'' War, was fought between the United Kingdom, France, Russia, and the United States against the Qing dynasty of China between 1856 and 1860. It was the second major ...

. Fane's horse fought in the engagements of Sinho, Chinkiawbaw, Pulli-chi-on as well as in the sacking of Peking under Fane's cousin Field Marshal Sir John Michel. For these services he was nominated as a

Companion of the Order of the Bath Companion may refer to: Relationships Currently * Any of several interpersonal relationships such as friend or acquaintance * A domestic partner, akin to a spouse * Sober companion, an addiction treatment coach * Companion (caregiving), a caregi ...

Later life

Fane was also an artist and had limited success throughout his lifetime, and he was the most successful member of a moderately artistic family. He married but had no children and he died aged 58 in Fulbeck, where is buried.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Fane, Walter 1828 births 1885 deaths British East India Company Army officers British Indian Army generals

Walter Walter may refer to: People and fictional characters * Walter (name), including a list of people and fictional and mythical characters with the given name or surname * Little Walter, American blues harmonica player Marion Walter Jacobs (1930–19 ...

Companions of the Order of the Bath British military personnel of the Indian Rebellion of 1857 British military personnel of the Second Opium War People from South Kesteven District Military personnel from Lincolnshire