General

General (United Kingdom)

General is currently the highest peace-time rank in the British Army and Royal Marines. It is subordinate to the Army rank of Field Marshal, has a NATO-code of OF-9, and is a four-star rank....

 Sir William Erskine Baker KCB

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...

 (29 November 1808 - 16 December 1881) was a senior British Indian Army

British Indian Army

The British Indian Army, officially simply the Indian Army, was the principal army of the British Raj in India before the partition of India in 1947...

 officer who went on to be Military Secretary to the India Office

Military Secretary to the India Office

The Military Secretary to the India Office was responsible for the recruitment of British and other European nationals to the officer ranks of the Indian Army.-Military Secretaries to the India Office:The Military Secretaries were as follows:...

.

Military career

Educated at Ludlow College

Ludlow College

Ludlow College is a sixth form college situated in the heart of Ludlow, Shropshire, England. Its history traces back to 1200, when it was known as Ludlow Grammar School. This makes Ludlow College one of the oldest educational institutions in England....

 and Addiscombe College

Addiscombe Military Academy

The East India Company Military Seminary, colloquially known as Addiscombe Seminary, Addiscombe College, or Addiscombe Military Academy was a British military academy at Addiscombe, Surrey, in what is now the London Borough of Croydon. It was established in 1809, and closed in 1861...

, Baker was commissioned into the Bengal Engineers

Bengal Engineer Group

The Bengal Engineer Group or the Bengal Sappers or Bengal Engineers as they are informally known, are remnants of British Indian Army's Bengal Army of the Bengal Presidency in British India; now a regiment of the Corps of Engineers in the Indian Army. The Bengal Sappers have their regimental...

 in 1828.

In 1843 following the annexation of the Sindh

Sindh

Sindh historically referred to as Ba'ab-ul-Islam , is one of the four provinces of Pakistan and historically is home to the Sindhi people. It is also locally known as the "Mehran". Though Muslims form the largest religious group in Sindh, a good number of Christians, Zoroastrians and Hindus can...

 for British India

British Raj

British Raj was the British rule in the Indian subcontinent between 1858 and 1947; The term can also refer to the period of dominion...

, he was appointed Superintendent of Canals and Forests in Sindh.

He served in the First Anglo-Sikh War

First Anglo-Sikh War

The First Anglo-Sikh War was fought between the Sikh Empire and the British East India Company between 1845 and 1846. It resulted in partial subjugation of the Sikh kingdom.-Background and causes of the war:...

 and fought at the Battle of Sobraon

Battle of Sobraon

The Battle of Sobraon was fought on 10 February 1846, between the forces of the British East India Company and the Sikh Khalsa Army, the army of the Sikh Empire of the Punjab...

 in 1846.

He transferred to the Public Works Department and was latterly consulting engineer on railways as well as an authority on irrigation to the Government of India

Government of India

The Government of India, officially known as the Union Government, and also known as the Central Government, was established by the Constitution of India, and is the governing authority of the union of 28 states and seven union territories, collectively called the Republic of India...

. He became Military Secretary to the India Office

Military Secretary to the India Office

The Military Secretary to the India Office was responsible for the recruitment of British and other European nationals to the officer ranks of the Indian Army.-Military Secretaries to the India Office:The Military Secretaries were as follows:...

 in 1859 and became a member of the Council of India

Council of India

The Council of India was the name given at different times to two separate bodies associated with British rule in India.The original Council of India was established by the Regulating Act of 1773 as a council of four formal advisors to the Governor-General at Fort William...

 in 1861. He was appointed KCB

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 1870 and retired in 1875.

He died at his home at Banwell Castle

Banwell Castle

Banwell Castle is a Victorian Gothic Revival mansion in Banwell, Somerset, England. It is a Grade II* listed building. The castle buildings, now a hotel and restaurant, and sometimes used as a wedding venue, are set in of grounds which are used for hawking activities.-History:The land on which...

 in Somerset

Somerset

The ceremonial and non-metropolitan county of Somerset in South West England borders Bristol and Gloucestershire to the north, Wiltshire to the east, Dorset to the south-east, and Devon to the south-west. It is partly bounded to the north and west by the Bristol Channel and the estuary of the...

in 1881.