Captain Audley Lempriere (1834–1855) was an officer in the British Army in the 77th (East Middlesex) Regiment of Foot during the Crimean war who was killed 19 April 1855, outside of Sebastopol during an attack on a Russian rifle pit.
[1] He was most notable for his young age and small size, being the smallest officer in the British Army, standing less than 5 feet, he earned the nickname "The Boy Captain".
His death would greatly affect his commanding officer, Colonel Thomas Graham Egerton, who took Lempriere's body off the battlefield while declaring "they shall never take my child".
[8] Captain Lempriere and Colonel Egerton would be buried beside each other in a ceremony attended by Field-Marshal Lord Raglan and Lieutenant-General Sir George Brown.
[9] Captain Lempriere and his sister are referenced repeatedly in the book Military Men of Feeling: Emotion, Touch, and Masculinity in the Crimean War by Dr. Holly Furneaux.