William Waller, English general and politician (b. 1597)
Sir William Waller (c. 1597 – 19 September 1668) was an English soldier and politician, who commanded Parliamentarian armies during the First English Civil War, before relinquishing his commission under the 1645 Self-denying Ordinance.

Elected Member of Parliament (MP) for Andover in 1640, then 1642, in June 1647 he was one of the Eleven Members accused of destabilising the kingdom. He was suspended in Pride's Purge of 1648, and arrested several times between 1650 and 1659. At the 1660 Restoration, he was elected to the Convention Parliament, but retired from politics when it dissolved. He died at Osterley Park, London in September 1668.

Waller was one of many who served in the Wars of the Three Kingdoms with great reluctance, but did so based on deeply held religious or political principles. He is perhaps best remembered by a letter written in 1643 to his close friend and Royalist opponent, Sir Ralph Hopton.

That great God who is the searcher of my heart knows with what a sad sense I go upon this service, and with what a perfect hatred I detest this war without an enemy;... We are both upon the stage and must act such parts as are assigned us in this tragedy, let us do it in a way of honour, and without personal animosities.