Charles Staveley General Sir Charles William Dunbar Staveley GCB ( 18 December 1817 – 23 November 1896 ) was a British Army officer . Early life . He was born at Boulogne - sur - Mer , France , the son of Lt - General William Staveley and Sarah Mather , and educated at the Scottish military and naval academy , Edinburgh . Career . He was commissioned as second lieutenant in the 87th ( Royal Irish Fusiliers ) on 6 March 1835 . He became a lieutenant on 4 October 1839 , and captain on 6 September 1844 . From July 1840 to June 1843 he was side - de - camp to the Governor of Mauritius , where his regiment was stationed , and where his father was acting Governor during part of that time . On his return home , he was quartered at Glasgow , and saved a boy from drowning in the Clyde at imminent risk of his own life , as he was not yet fully recovered from a severe attack of measles . He exchanged to the 18th foot on 31 January 1845 , and to the 44th on 9 May . From 15 June to 11 May 1847 he was aide - de - camp to the Governor General of British North America . An admirable draughtsman , his sketches proved very useful during the settlement of the Oregon boundary question in 1846 . He was assistant military secretary at Hong Kong , where his father was in command , from 20 March 1848 to 27 February 1851 . Crimean War . He had become a major in the 44th Regiment of Foot on 7 December 1850 , and went with them to Turkey in 1854 . When the regiment embarked for the Crimea he was to have been left behind on account of illness , but he hid himself on board until the vessel sailed . He was present at Alma and at Balaclava , where he acted as aide - de - camp to the Duke of Cambridge . On 12 December 1854 he became a lieutenant - colonel in his regiment . The 44th belonged to Sir William Eyre ' s brigade of the third division , and took part in the attempt on the dockyard creek on 18 June 1855 , and in the capture of the cemetery - the sole success achieved . Staveley was mentioned in dispatches ( London Gazette , 4 July ) and was made CB . He also received the Crimean Medal with three clasps , the Sardinian and Turkish medals , and the Medjidia ( fifth class ) . China . He commanded the regiment from 30 June 1855 . It returned to England in July 1856 , embarked for Madras in August 1857 , and went on to China in March 1860 . He had become colonel of the 44th on 9 March 1858 , and on 28 April 1860 he was made brigadier - general , and was given command of the 1st Brigade of Michel ' s 1st Division during the Anglo - French expedition to Peking . He was present at the capture of the Taku forts , was mentioned in dispatches ( ib . 4 Nov . 1860 ) , and received the medal with clasp . On 18 January 1861 , he was given one of the rewards for distinguished service . He was left as Commander of British Troops in China and Hong Kong in 1862 . The Taiping Rebellion was then in full career . The rebels had broken their promise not to come within thirty miles of Shanghai and were threatening that city itself . In April Staveley marched against them with a force of about two thousand men , of which about one - third consisted of French and English seamen and marines . He shelled them out of the entrenched camp at Wongkadze and stormed Tsipu , Kahding , Tsinpu , Nanjao and Cholin in the course of April and May . But the Chinese imperial troops were unable to hold all the towns recovered , and he had to withdraw the British garrison from Kahding ( ib . 18 July and 5 Aug . 1862 ) . In the autumn Kahding and Tsinpu were again taken , and the thirty - mile radius cleared of the rebels . In December he was asked by Li Hung Chang to name a British officer to replace the American Burgevine as commander of the disciplined Chinese force which had been formed by Frederick Townsend Ward . Staveley named Charles George Gordon , who had been chief engineer under him in the recent operations , and had surveyed all the country around Shanghai . They had served together before Sebastopol , and Staveley ' s sister was the wife of Gordon ' s brother . The appointment had to be approved from England , and was not taken up until the end of March 1863 . At that time ill - health obliged Staveley to resign his command and go home . Abyssinia . In March 1865 he was made KCB and was appointed to the command of the first division of the Bombay Army . On 25 September 1867 , he was promoted major - general , and in November , by Sir Robert Napier ' s desire , he was given command of the first division of the force sent to Abyssinia . He showed his energy to good purpose in the organisation of the base at Annesley Bay , and he conducted the fight on the Arogye plain , which immediately preceded the capture of Magdala . Napier said in his dispatch that Staveley had afforded him most valuable support and assistance throughout the campaign . He received the thanks of Parliament and the medal . Later life . Staveley commanded the troops in the western district for five years from 1 January 1869 , and in the autumn manoeuvres of 1871 round Aldershot , one of the three divisions was under him . He was Commander - in - Chief of the Bombay Army from 7 October 1874 to 7 October 1878 , with the local rank of lieutenant - general , which became his substantive rank on 29 April 1875 . On 1 October 1877 he became general . He was given the colonelcy of the 36th foot on 2 February 1876 , and transferred to his old regiment , the 44th ( which had become the first battalion of the Essex Regiment ) , on 25 July 1883 . He received the GCB on 24 May 1884 . He had been placed on the retired list on 8 October in the previous year . He died at Aban Court , Cheltenham , on 23 November 1896 , and was buried at Brompton Cemetery , London on 27 November . Family . In 1864 , he married Susan Millicent , daughter of Charles William Minet of Baldwyns , Kent . They had several children , including Admiral Cecil Minet Staveley , father of Admiral of the Fleet Sir William Doveton Minet Staveley . References .