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{{for|the British Army officer|Reynell Taylor (British Army officer)}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=September 2022}}
{{Infobox military person
| name = Reynell Taylor
| image = Reynell George Taylor.jpg
| caption =
| birth_date = {{Birth date|1822|01|25|df=y}}
| death_date = {{Death date and age|1886|02|28|1822|01|25|df=y}}
| placeofburial_label =
| placeofburial =
| birth_place = [[Brighton]], [[West Sussex]], [[United Kingdom]]
| death_place = [[Newton Abbot]], [[Devon]], United Kingdom
| nickname =
| birth_name = Reynell George Taylor
| allegiance = [[File:Flag of the British East India Company (1707).svg|22x25px]] [[East India Company]] {{flagicon|British India}} [[British India]]
| branch = [[Bengal Army]]
| serviceyears = 1840-1877
| rank = [[Major-general (United Kingdom)|Major-General]]
| servicenumber =
| unit =
| commands =
| battles = [[Gwalior Campaign]] [[First Anglo-Sikh War]] [[Second Anglo-Sikh War]] [[Indian Rebellion of 1857]] [[Ambela Campaign]]
| battles_label =
| awards = [[Companion of the Order of the Bath]] [[Order of the Star of India|Companions of the Order of the Star of India]]
| relations = [[Thomas William Taylor (British Army officer)|Thomas Taylor]] ''(father)''
| laterwork =
}}

[[Major-general (United Kingdom)|Major-General]] '''Reynell George Taylor''' {{post-nominals|country=GBR|CB|CSI}} (25 January 1822 – 28 February 1886) was a British military officer who served in the [[Presidency armies|Bengal Army]].

==Early life==
Taylor was born in [[Brighton]] on 25 January 1822, the youngest son of Major-General [[Thomas William Taylor (British Army officer)|Thomas William Taylor]] CB of Ogwell, Devon, who served with the [[10th Royal Hussars]] at the [[Battle of Waterloo]]. From [[Royal Military Academy Sandhurst|Sandhurst]], where his father was lieutenant-governor, he was commissioned as a [[cornet (military rank)|cornet]] in the Indian cavalry on 26 February 1840.<ref name="DNB">{{harvnb|Sidney Lee|1898}}.</ref>

==In India==
Taylor first saw service with the 11th Bengal Light Cavalry in the [[Gwalior Campaign]] of 1843, and at the close of the war was appointed to the bodyguard. In the [[First Anglo-Sikh War]] he was severely wounded in a cavalry charge in the [[Battle of Mudki]] on 18 December 1845. Sent to [[Lahore]] in 1847, he became one of that [[Henry Lawrence's "Young Men"|famous body of men]] who worked under [[Henry Montgomery Lawrence|Henry Lawrence]], and subsequently [[John Lawrence, 1st Baron Lawrence|John Lawrence]], in the Punjab. That same year he was left in charge of the city of [[Peshawar]], leader of ten thousand Sikh troops and the whole district. Taylor organised a column of four thousand men who departed from Peshawar to occupy the [[Bannu District]], and safely led the men through the [[Kohat Pass]] in November–December 1847.<ref name="DNB"/>

Taylor was in charge of Bannu at the outbreak of the [[Second Anglo-Sikh War]]. When he heard reports of the murders of [[Patrick Vans Agnew]] and W. A. Anderson at [[Multan]] on 20 April 1848, he dispatched troops to assist [[Herbert Edwardes]] and remained at his post. In July he was ordered to proceed to Multan, which was at that time under siege, and then set out in an unsuccessful attempt to rescue British captives then being held at [[Peshawar]]. He next gathered an irregular force of 1,021 foot, 650 horse, and three guns, and laid siege to the fort of [[Lakki Marwat|Lukkee]], the key to the [[Derajat]], on 11 December 1848. The fort was captured on 11 January 1849. For his services he was promoted captain on 15 December 1851 and major the next day.<ref name="DNB"/><ref>''London Gazette'', Issue 21344, 30 July 1852. Page 2.</ref>

In 1855, after a prolonged visit to England, he was appointed commandant of the [[Corps of Guides (India)|Corps of Guides]]. During the [[Indian Mutiny]] he was in charge of the [[Kangra district]], and in 1859 he was appointed commissioner of the Derajat. He was promoted lieutenant-colonel on 21 December 1859, and in 1860 was chief political officer of the Waziri expedition. Before retiring from the Derajat, in order to become commissioner of Peshawar in the spring of 1862, he paid for the [[Church Missionary Society]] to establish a station in the district. The first head of the mission was [[Valpy French]].<ref>Valpy French's entry in ''Dictionary of Indian Biography''.</ref> In 1863 he served throughout the [[Ambela Campaign]], was promoted to colonel on 3 April 1863, and received the [[Order of the Bath]] the following month.<ref>''London Gazette'', Issue 22735, 12 May 1863. Page 2.</ref> He was granted the [[Order of the Star of India]] in June 1866. After a short visit to England in 1865 he returned for the last time to India, to serve as commissioner of the [[Ambala district]] From 1870 he held the same post in the [[Amritsar]] division.<ref name="DNB"/>

==Last years==
Taylor retired in 1877 as major-general. He was promoted lieutenant-general that year, and general on 15 December 1880. He died at [[Newton Abbot]] on 28 February 1886.
A biography by [[Ernest Gambier-Parry]] was published in 1888.<ref name="DNB"/>

==Family==
On 11 December 1854 Taylor married Ann, daughter of Arthur Holdsworth of Widdicombe, Devon.<ref name="DNB"/> She survived him, along with several children, including Millicent Mary, who founded the [[Society of the Precious Blood]], an Anglican religious order, and [[Henry Taylor (cricketer, born 1875)|Henry]], who played both [[first-class cricket]] and rugby union for Cambridge University.

==References==
{{Reflist|colwidth=30em}}

===Attribution===
{{DNB|wstitle=Taylor, Reynell George|volume=55}}
{{Authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Taylor, Reynell}}
[[Category:1822 births]]
[[Category:1886 deaths]]
[[Category:British Indian Army officers]]
[[Category:Bengal Staff Corps officers]]
[[Category:Corps of Guides (India) officers]]
[[Category:British military personnel of the First Anglo-Sikh War]]
[[Category:British military personnel of the Second Anglo-Sikh War]]
[[Category:British military personnel of the Indian Rebellion of 1857]]
[[Category:Companions of the Order of the Bath]]
[[Category:Companions of the Order of the Star of India]]

Reynell Taylor - Revision history

Bot at 19:04, 2 May 2021

Bot at 19:04, 2 May 2021