Major-General William Stirling Oliphant was gazetted to the Bengal Engineers as a 2nd Lieutenant in December 1845 and served in the Punjab Campaign with the 3rd Company of Sappers. Present at the siege and capture of Mooltan, the surrender of the Fort and Garrison of Cheniote and at the Battle of Goojerat, he is also credited with having led the ladder party through the breach of the Khuni Bhurj. Oliphant went on to enjoy steady promotion in the Corps throughout the next 30 years, attaining the rank of Major-General in December 1878, the year of his retirement. He died in Cambridge in September 1888.