Henry Roxby Benson was a 19th century British General. Born into a distinguished Welsh

Wales

Wales is a country that is part of the United Kingdom and the island of Great Britain, bordered by England to its east and the Atlantic Ocean and Irish Sea to its west. It has a population of three million, and a total area of 20,779 km²...

 family he was gazetted into the 17th Lancers

17th Lancers

The 17th Lancers was a cavalry regiment of the British Army, notable for its participation in the Charge of the Light Brigade in the Crimean War...

 in 1840 and rose steadily until he commanded the regiment in the field during the Crimean War

Crimean War

The Crimean War was a conflict fought between the Russian Empire and an alliance of the French Empire, the British Empire, the Ottoman Empire, and the Kingdom of Sardinia. The war was part of a long-running contest between the major European powers for influence over territories of the declining...

. Subsequent service in India (where he commanded the 2nd Cavalry at Malwa) lead to further promotions, notably Colonel of the 7th Hussars. Appointed CB

Order of the Bath

The Most Honourable Order of the Bath is a British order of chivalry founded by George I on 18 May 1725. The name derives from the elaborate mediæval ceremony for creating a knight, which involved bathing as one of its elements. The knights so created were known as Knights of the Bath...

in 1861 he continued to rise until his final promotion to the rank of General twenty years later. His son Henry Wightman Benson was also a distinguished officer.