Henry Walton Ellis
| Sir Henry Walton Ellis | |
|---|---|
| Born | 29 November 1782 Cambray, Cheltenham, Gloucestershire |
| Died | June 20, 1815 (aged 32) Waterloo, Belgium |
| Nationality | British |
| Occupation | Soldier |
| Known for | Military career, Peninsular campaign |
Colonel Sir Henry Walton Ellis KCB (29 November 1782 – 20 June 1815) was a British soldier in the Napoleonic Wars.
He was the son of Major General Joyner Ellis, and grandson of J. Joyner of Berkeley, Gloucestershire. He was born in Cambray, Cheltenham in 1782 and baptised 6 October 1783, almost a year later, in Worcester, England. His father, Joyner Ellis, had taken the name Ellis in consequence of his adoption by 'Governor' Henry Ellis, lieutenant governor of Georgia, 1758, who lived for some time at Lansdowne Place, Bath, and died at Naples in 1806. Joyner Ellis served successively in the 18th, old 89th, and 41st Foot, became lieutenant-colonel of the 23rd Royal Welsh Fusiliers in 1793, major-general in 1798 and died 1804. He was member of parliament for Worcester for some years. By his wife, whose maiden name was Walton, he had several children, the eldest of whom, Henry Walton Ellis, was born at Worcester in 1783, and immediately appointed an ensign in the 89th foot, of which Joyner Ellis was major.
The regiment, which had been chiefly recruited around Worcester, was disbanded at the peace a few months later, and the baby was put on half-pay; but brought on full pay again as an ensign, at the age of five, in the 41st Foot, of which Joyner Ellis had been appointed major on its reorganisation in 1787.
Young Ellis became a lieutenant in the 41st Foot in 1792, and captain in the 23rd Fusiliers on 20 January 1796. Joining the Fusiliers, a boy-captain of barely fourteen, he served with it in the descent on Ostend in 1798, in North Holland in 1799 (wounded), in the Channel, at Ferrol and in the Mediterranean in 1800, in Egypt in 1801 (wounded, gold medal and rank of major), in Hanover in 1805, and at Copenhagen in 1807. A youthful veteran of twenty-five, he succeeded to the command of the first battalion of his regiment, without purchase, in Nova Scotia in 1808, and commanded it in the expedition against Martinique in 1809, where at the siege of Fort Bourbon he offered to take the flints out of his men's firelocks and carry the works with his fusiliers at the point of the bayonet, an enterprise which the commander-in-chief, Sir George Beckwith, refused to sanction.
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