Sir Henry Havelock - Allan , 1st Baronet Lieutenant General Sir Henry Marshman Havelock - Allan , 1st Baronet , VC , GCB , DL ( 6 August 1830 – 30 December 1897 ) was an Indian - born British soldier and politician . Havelock was born in Cawnpore , India , the son of Major General Sir Henry Havelock KCB and his wife , Hannah " née " Marshman – herself the daughter of the missionaries Joshua Marshman and his wife Hannah . Military service . He was 26 years old , and a lieutenant in the 10th Regiment of Foot during the Indian Mutiny when on 16 July 1857 at Cawnpore , the 64th Regiment had suffered badly under artillery fire . When the enemy was seen rallying their last 24 - pounder , the order was given to advance , and Lieutenant Havelock immediately placed himself , on his horse , in front of the centre of the 64th , opposite the muzzle of the gun and moved on at a foot pace , in the face of shot and grape fired by the enemy . The advance went steadily on , led by the lieutenant and finally the gun was rushed and taken by the 64th . For this deed , Havelock was awarded the Victoria Cross . On 25 September 1857 he was badly wounded in the Siege of Lucknow . On returning to England in 1860 , he joined his regiment at Shorncliffe . He became deputy assistant adjutant - general at Aldershot on 1 October 1861 . He was posted with his regiment to New Zealand in August 1863 , where he was appointed deputy assistant quartermaster - general and served under Major - general Duncan Cameron from 1863 to 1864 . He participated in the Invasion of Waikato , being present at Rangiriri , Waiari , Paterangi , Rangiawhia , and at the siege and capture of Orakau . For his services during this period , he was Mentioned in dispatches , promoted to Major ( 28 June 1864 ) , and was made a Companion of the Bath in August 1866 . In 1867 , Havelock published a book on the subject of military reform . In March of that year he was posted to Canada , where he served as assistant quartermaster - general for two years . He then spent three years in Dublin performing the same role . In 1870 he was given leave of absence to act as a War correspondent in the Franco - Prussian War , being present at the Battle of Sedan . In 1877 , he attended the Russo - Turkish War in the same capacity . He was promoted to Colonel on 17 June 1868 , and Major - general on 18 March 1878 . Ill health forced him to retire from the active list on 9 December 1881 , with the honorary rank of Lieutenant - general . However , when the Anglo - Egyptian War broke out the following year , he made his way to the British headquarters in Ismaïlia telling a war correspondent " Don ' t for goodness ' sake mention me in your despatches , for my wife thinks I ' m somewhere on the Riviera , but I could not resist coming here to see the fun . " He petitioned British commander Sir Garnet Wolseley for a role on the staff ; but Wolseley refused , writing to his wife : Havelock is still here as mad as ever : I received a letter from him yesterday , begging to have it sent home as it was a request to be re - employed , etc . etc . , in his usual strain . I am extremely sorry for him , and feel for him very much , but still feel that he can never be employed again : he is not sane enough to argue with . Nonetheless , he was able to see action at the battles of Kassassin and Tel el - Kebir , where he supposedly led a charge armed with nothing but a riding crop . Baronetcy . In 1858 he was granted the baronetcy originally intended for his father ( who died a year earlier ) and he and his mother were granted a parliamentary pension of £1 , 000 a year . He later went to England and became an MP in 1874 for his father ' s birth - town of Sunderland until 1881 . He inherited Blackwell Grange , the former property of his cousin Robert Allan , changed his surname to Havelock - Allan ( as was required by the will of the latter ) and became an MP for South East Durham from 1885 to 1892 . Death . He was re - elected in 1895 and also became colonel of the Royal Irish Regiment , stationed in India , that year . It was there that he was killed by Afridi clansmen on the Afghanistan side of the Khyber Pass in 1897 and he was later buried in Rawalpindi .