William Earle (British Army officer) William Earle (British Army officer) Major General William Earle (18 May 1833 – 10 February 1885) was a British Army officer of the 19th century. He was born in Liverpool, the son of the merchant Sir Hardman Earle, 1st Baronet and his wife Mary (née Langton), and married Mary Codrington on 21 July 1864. He had a successful military career, recognised by honours including a Companion of the Order of the Bath. He fought in the Crimean War, was later part of the Nile Expedition attempting to relieve General Gordon at Khartoum. He was killed following the Battle of Kirbekan.
Siege of Khartoum relief to Khartoum. He was rebuked by Queen Victoria in a telegram which became known to the public. His government fell in June 1885, though he was back in office the next year. The public outcry soon weakened, first when press coverage and sensationalism of the events began to diminish and secondly when the government released details of the £11.5 million military budget cost for pursuing war in the Sudan. In reality, Gladstone had always viewed the Egyptian-Sudanese imbroglio with distaste and had felt some sympathy for the Sudanese striving to throw off the Egyptian colonial rule. He once declared