Robert Napier Raikes Robert Napier Raikes General Robert Napier Raikes (13 October 1813 – 23 March 1909) was a British Indian Army officer who became General of the Remount, responsible for the provision of horses throughout the British Indian Army, in 1889. He was born 13 October 1813 in Drayton the son of Robert Napier Raikes the vicar of Gayton and rector of Hellesdon all in Norfolk, England; and the grandson of Robert Raikes, the promoter of Sunday schools. He was at Addiscombe Military Seminary in 1828 as a cadet. He entered the Indian Army as a cadet in the Bengal Staff Corps
Thomas Raikes (dandy) he retained, despite continuing trips to Europe. In 1814, Raikes was at the Hague, where he stayed in the house of the British ambassador, Richard Trench. He visited Paris three times (1814, 1819, and 1820), and spent the winter of 1829–30 in Russia. In 1833, he left London for France, where he remained for eight years. In 1841 the Tory Party took government in the UK, and Raikes, in the hope of securing a post under the patronage of the new Prime Minister, Robert Peel, returned to London. He was unsuccessful in securing a position and divided his time over