Major General Major general (abbreviated MG, maj. gen. and similar) is a military rank used in many countries. It is derived from the older rank of sergeant major general. The disappearance of the "sergeant" in the title explains the apparent confusion of a ...

Sir James Howden MacBrien (30 June 1878 – 5 March 1938) was a

Canadian Canadians (french: Canadiens) are people identified with the country of Canada. This connection may be residential, legal, historical or cultural. For most Canadians, many (or all) of these connections exist and are collectively the source of ...

soldier and

Chief of the General Staff The Chief of the General Staff (CGS) is a post in many armed forces ( militaries), the head of the military staff. List * Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff (United States) * Chief of the General Staff (Abkhazia) * Chief of General Staff ( ...

, the head of the Canadian Militia (renamed the

Canadian Army The Canadian Army (french: Armée canadienne) is the command (military formation), command responsible for the operational readiness of the conventional ground forces of the Canadian Armed Forces. It maintains regular forces units at bases acr ...

in 1940) from 1920 until 1927.

Military career

Educated in

Port Perry Port Perry is a community located in Scugog, Ontario, Canada. The town is located northeast of central Toronto and north of Oshawa and Whitby, Ontario, Whitby. Port Perry has a population of 9,453 as of 2016. Port Perry serves as the administra ...

,Port Perry / Scugog Township Heritage Gallery
/ref> MacBrien initially joined the Canadian Militia with the

34th Ontario Regiment The Ontario Regiment ( RCAC) is a Primary Reserve armoured reconnaissance regiment of the Canadian Army. The unit is based in downtown Oshawa, Ontario, and is named after Ontario County (1852–1973). Formed in 1866, and more commonly known ...

but then transferred to the

North-West Mounted Police The North-West Mounted Police (NWMP) was a Canadian para-military police force, established in 1873, to maintain order in the new Canadian North-West Territories (NWT) following the 1870 transfer of Rupert’s Land and North-Western Territory ...

and, during the

Second Boer War The Second Boer War ( af, Tweede Vryheidsoorlog, , 11 October 189931 May 1902), also known as the Boer War, the Anglo–Boer War, or the South African War, was a conflict fought between the British Empire and the two Boer Republics (the South ...

, to the South African Constabulary. Returning to

Canada Canada is a country in North America. Its ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, covering over , making it the world's second-largest country by tota ...

he was commissioned into the

Royal Canadian Dragoons The Royal Canadian Dragoons (RCD) is the senior armoured regiment of the Canadian Army by precedence. It is one of three armoured regiments in the Regular Force and forms part of the Royal Canadian Armoured Corps. The colonel-in-chief of The RC ...

. He also served in

World War I World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was List of wars and anthropogenic disasters by death toll, one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, ...

as a

General Staff Officer A military staff or general staff (also referred to as army staff, navy staff, or air staff within the individual services) is a group of officers, enlisted and civilian staff who serve the commander of a division or other large military ...

and then, from 1916, as

commanding officer The commanding officer (CO) or sometimes, if the incumbent is a general officer, commanding general (CG), is the officer in command of a military unit. The commanding officer has ultimate authority over the unit, and is usually given wide latit ...

of 12th Infantry Brigade. After the war he was appointed

. He also served as the eighth Commissioner of the Royal Canadian Mounted Police, from August 1, 1931 to March 5, 1938. MacBrien died in

Toronto Toronto ( ; or ) is the capital city of the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian province of Ontario. With a recorded population of 2,794,356 in 2021, it is the List of the largest municipalities in Canada by population, most pop ...

Family

In 1907 he married Nellie Louise Ross and in 1928 he married Emily Emely Hartridge.

References

External links

* 1878 births 1938 deaths Canadian generals of World War I Canadian anti-communists Canadian Expeditionary Force officers Commanders of the Order of St John Canadian Companions of the Distinguished Service Order Canadian Companions of the Order of St Michael and St George Canadian Knights Commander of the Order of the Bath People from Scugog Canadian military personnel from Ontario Royal Canadian Mounted Police commissioners The Royal Canadian Dragoons officers Canadian military personnel of the Second Boer War {{Canada-mil-bio-stub Canadian Militia officers