Charles Arkoll Boulton (April 17, 1841 – May 15, 1899) was a Canadian army officer and politician.
Biography
He was born in Cobourg, Canada West in 1841, son of D’Arcy Edward Boulton and Emily Heath. His father was a militiaman and politician and his great-grandfathers were D'Arcy Boulton and Christopher Robinson. Charles Boulton was educated at Upper Canada College.
He was commissioned on 23 June 1858 into the British Army as an Ensign with the 100th Regiment of Foot. He was promoted to lieutenant on 25 May 1861 and he purchased a captaincy on 15 June 1866. He served four years in Gibraltar, briefly in Malta and two years in Montreal. He sold his commission in the British Army in 1868, and he became a Major in the Canadian Militia with the 46th East Durham Battalion of Infantry.
In 1869, he was part of a survey party sent to the Red River Colony. On the orders of survey party leader, John Stoughton Dennis, he organized a group of volunteers to try to put down an uprising by Louis Riel. When 50 of his volunteers were captured and imprisoned, he left the colony and went to Portage la Prairie. He met some people who had escaped there and led an attempt to free the remaining captives. They were taken captive by Riel's Métis. Boulton was sentenced to death, but was later released and returned to Ontario.