1st Captain William Howard Jesse was gazetted to the Royal Engineers as a 2nd Lieutenant in June 1841, gained advancement to Lieutenant in December 1844 and is believed to have participated in the Second Kaffir War with No. 9 Company. Certainly he fought in the Third War, serving on the Staff as an Assistant Quarter-Master General and gaining advancement to 2nd Captain in April 1852. Tragically, Jesse was killed in action during the ill-fated attempt to storm the Redan on 18.6.1855, Lieutenant Fisher stating in his report that his senior 'was shot through the head whilst in the act of speaking to me'. His promotion to 1st Captain had come through just two months earlier.