CHRISTOPHER CHARLES TEESDALE

Christopher Charles Teesdale entered the Royal Military Academy at Woolwich, London, in 1848 and was commissioned as a second lieutenant in the Royal Artillery in 1851. The following year Teesdale went to Corfu, where he was promoted to first lieutenant in 1853. In 1854 he was appointed aide-de-camp to Colonel William Fenwick Williams, who at the time was the British commissioner with the Turkish army in Asia Minor during the Crimean War.

The same year, Teesdale accompanied Williams to Erzurum, from where they travelled to Kars, reaching the city on 24 September. Williams later returned to Erzurum, leaving Teesdale with the unenviable task of organising and establishing discipline among the poorly trained Turkish garrison. He worked ceaselessly to ensure the welfare of his men, and with his task largely complete by March the following year Teesdale rejoined Williams at Erzurum. He was made a major in the Turkish army and received a