General Robert Napier Raikes (13 October 1813 – 23 March 1909) joined the British Indian Army aged 16 in 1829.

Aged 16, he entered the Indian Army as a cadet in the Bengal Staff Corps, sailing on 19 November 1829 from Portsmouth, arriving Calcutta 14 May 1829.

Apparently his men carried the old flint-lock musket, of which Wellington's maxim was "Don't fire until you see the whites of their eyes.

Being devoted to him, as he rode away they formed up on each side of the road, with tears pouring down their faces, and bade him farewell."

Raikes married Harriet Beckett in 1854; they had three infant daughters who died in Agra during the Indian Rebellion.