Lieutenant-General Lieutenant general (Lt Gen, LTG and similar) is a three-star military rank (NATO code OF-8) used in many countries. The rank traces its origins to the Middle Ages, where the title of lieutenant general was held by the second-in-command on the ...

Richard George Amherst Luard (29 July 1827 – 24 July 1891) was a

British Army The British Army is the principal land warfare force of the United Kingdom, a part of the British Armed Forces along with the Royal Navy and the Royal Air Force. , the British Army comprises 79,380 regular full-time personnel, 4,090 Gurk ...

officer who became General Officer Commanding the Militia of Canada.

Military career

Born the eldest son of Lieutenant-Colonel

John Luard John Luard (1790–1875) was a British Army officer and author of ''History of the Dress of the British Soldier'' Life He was fourth son of Captain Peter John Luard of the 4th Dragoons, of Blyborough, Kirton-in-Lindsey, Lincolnshire, and his wife ...

and educated at the

Royal Military Academy Sandhurst The Royal Military Academy Sandhurst (RMAS or RMA Sandhurst), commonly known simply as Sandhurst, is one of several military academies of the United Kingdom and is the British Army's initial officer training centre. It is located in the town of ...

, Luard was commissioned into the

51st Regiment of Foot The 51st (2nd Yorkshire West Riding) Regiment of Foot was a British Army line infantry regiment, raised in 1755. Under the Childers Reforms it amalgamated with the 105th Regiment of Foot (Madras Light Infantry) to form the King's Own Yorkshire L ...

in 1845.Dictionary of Canadian Biography Online
/ref> Later that year he transferred to the

3rd Regiment of Foot Third or 3rd may refer to: Numbers * 3rd, the ordinal form of the cardinal number 3 * , a fraction of one third * 1⁄60 of a ''second'', or 1⁄3600 of a ''minute'' Places * 3rd Street (disambiguation) * Third Avenue (disambiguation) * Hig ...

. In 1854 he transferred to the

77th Regiment of Foot The 77th (East Middlesex) Regiment of Foot (The Duke of Cambridge's Own) was a line regiment of the British Army, raised in 1787. Under the Childers Reforms it amalgamated with the 57th (West Middlesex) Regiment of Foot to form the Duke of Cambri ...

and served in the

Crimean War The Crimean War, , was fought from October 1853 to February 1856 between Russia and an ultimately victorious alliance of the Ottoman Empire, France, the United Kingdom and Piedmont-Sardinia. Geopolitical causes of the war included the de ...

as a Deputy Assistant Adjutant-General: he was

mentioned in despatches To be mentioned in dispatches (or despatches, MiD) describes a member of the armed forces whose name appears in an official report written by a superior officer and sent to the high command, in which their gallant or meritorious action in the face ...

for his part in the Siege of Sevastopol. He served in the

Second Opium War The Second Opium War (), also known as the Second Anglo-Sino War, the Second China War, the Arrow War, or the Anglo-French expedition to China, was a colonial war lasting from 1856 to 1860, which pitted the British Empire and the French Emp ...

taking part in an expedition to

China China, officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is a country in East Asia. It is the world's most populous country, with a population exceeding 1.4 billion, slightly ahead of India. China spans the equivalent of five time zones and ...

in 1857. In 1860 he was appointed Assistant Inspector of Volunteers and in 1875 he was made assistant adjutant and quartermaster-general for the Northern District in

England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe b ...

. In 1880 he became General Officer Commanding the Militia of Canada. He sought to introduce permanent infantry training schools but also upset Adolphe-Philippe Caron, the Minister of Militia and Defence, through his constant criticism of amateur soldiers. He was asked to resign and, in 1884, returned to England to command a brigade at

Aldershot Garrison Aldershot Garrison, also known as Aldershot Military Town, is a major garrison in South East England, between Aldershot and Farnborough in Hampshire. The garrison was established when the War Department bought a large area of land near the villa ...

Family

Luard was married on 8 October 1863 to Hannah Chamberlain. They had seven children including

Edward Bourryau Luard Edward is an English given name. It is derived from the Anglo-Saxon name ''Ēadweard'', composed of the elements '' ēad'' "wealth, fortune; prosperous" and '' weard'' "guardian, protector”. History The name Edward was very popular in Anglo-Sax ...

(1870–1916), who achieved the rank of

lieutenant colonel Lieutenant colonel ( , ) is a rank of commissioned officers in the armies, most marine forces and some air forces of the world, above a major and below a colonel. Several police forces in the United States use the rank of lieutenant colone ...

in the

King's Shropshire Light Infantry The King's Shropshire Light Infantry (KSLI) was a light infantry regiment of the British Army, formed in the Childers Reforms of 1881, but with antecedents dating back to 1755. It served in the Second Boer War, World War I and World War II. In 196 ...

and was killed near

Ypres Ypres ( , ; nl, Ieper ; vls, Yper; german: Ypern ) is a Belgian city and municipality in the province of West Flanders. Though the Dutch name is the official one, the city's French name is most commonly used in English. The municipality co ...

in the

First World War World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...

. Another son was

Charles Camac Luard Major-General Charles Camac Luard, CB, CMG (14 September 1867 – 28 June 1947) was Commander of British Troops in South China. Military career Fourth in a line of British army officers, and born the son of Richard Luard and educated at Cli ...

References

External links

Richard George Amherst Luard
at

The Canadian Encyclopedia ''The Canadian Encyclopedia'' (TCE; french: L'Encyclopédie canadienne) is the national encyclopedia of Canada, published online by the Toronto-based historical organization Historica Canada, with the support of Canadian Heritage. Available fo ...

{{DEFAULTSORT:Luard, Richard 1827 births 1891 deaths British Army lieutenant generals Canadian generals Companions of the Order of the Bath British Army personnel of the Crimean War 77th Regiment of Foot officers Buffs (Royal East Kent Regiment) officers British Army personnel of the Second Opium War Commanders of the Canadian Army