Lieutenant General Lieutenant general (Lt Gen, LTG and similar) is a military rank 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 battlefield, who was norma ...

Sir George Lloyd Reilly Richardson (20 September 1847 – 9 April 1931) was an officer in the

British Indian Army The Indian Army was the force of British Raj, British India, until Indian Independence Act 1947, national independence in 1947. Formed in 1895 by uniting the three Presidency armies, it was responsible for the defence of both British India and ...

from 1866 to 1909. He served across South East Asia, becoming a veteran of the

Second Anglo-Afghan War The Second Anglo-Afghan War (Dari: جنگ دوم افغان و انگلیس, ) was a military conflict fought between the British Raj and the Emirate of Afghanistan from 1878 to 1880, when the latter was ruled by Sher Ali Khan of the Barakzai dy ...

and

Boxer Rebellion The Boxer Rebellion, also known as the Boxer Uprising, was an anti-foreign, anti-imperialist, and anti-Christian uprising in North China between 1899 and 1901, towards the end of the Qing dynasty, by the Society of Righteous and Harmonious F ...

, and later as commander of the

Ulster Volunteer Force The Ulster Volunteer Force (UVF) is an Ulster loyalism, Ulster loyalist paramilitary group based in Northern Ireland. Formed in 1965, it first emerged in 1966. Its first leader was Gusty Spence, a former Royal Ulster Rifles soldier from North ...

Ireland Ireland (, ; ; Ulster Scots dialect, Ulster-Scots: ) is an island in the North Atlantic Ocean, in Northwestern Europe. Geopolitically, the island is divided between the Republic of Ireland (officially Names of the Irish state, named Irelan ...

Biography

Sir George Richardson 5125515131 80471d7fb4 o

Born in 1847, Richardson was the son of Major General Joseph Fletcher Richardson and his wife, Mary Hannah Reilly.''India, Select Births and Baptisms, 1786-1947'' He joined the 38th (1st Staffordshire) Regiment of Foot as a second-lieutenant on 23 March 1866 and took part in the Hazara expedition in 1868. He was promoted to

lieutenant A lieutenant ( , ; abbreviated Lt., Lt, LT, Lieut and similar) is a Junior officer, junior commissioned officer rank in the armed forces of many nations, as well as fire services, emergency medical services, Security agency, security services ...

on 5 March 1869 and transferred to the

, where he was attached to the 18th King George's Own Lancers in 1871. Promoted to

captain Captain is a title, an appellative for the commanding officer of a military unit; the supreme leader or highest rank officer of a navy ship, merchant ship, aeroplane, spacecraft, or other vessel; or the commander of a port, fire or police depa ...

on 30 January 1878, he fought in the

between 1879 and 1880 and took part in the Waziri expedition in 1881. He was promoted to

major Major most commonly refers to: * Major (rank), a military rank * Academic major, an academic discipline to which an undergraduate student formally commits * People named Major, including given names, surnames, nicknames * Major and minor in musi ...

on 2 March 1881. He joined in the Zhob Valley Field Force in 1890 and following promotion to lieutenant-colonel on 23 March 1892, he served as commanding officer of the 18th King George's Own Lancers between 1892 and 1898. He was promoted to

colonel Colonel ( ; abbreviated as Col., Col, or COL) is a senior military Officer (armed forces), officer rank used in many countries. It is also used in some police forces and paramilitary organizations. In the 17th, 18th, and 19th centuries, a colon ...

on 23 March 1896, served with the

Flying Column A flying column is a small, independent, military land unit capable of rapid mobility and usually composed of all arms. It is often an ''ad hoc'' unit, formed during the course of operations. The term is usually, though not necessarily, appl ...

in Kurram Valley between 1897 and 1898 and then took part in the Tirah expedition.Hart′s Army list, 1903 In early 1900 he acted as Colonel on the Staff at

Rawalpindi Rawalpindi is the List of cities in Punjab, Pakistan by population, third-largest city in the Administrative units of Pakistan, Pakistani province of Punjab, Pakistan, Punjab. It is a commercial and industrial hub, being the list of cities in P ...

, a position he was officially appointed to on 21 February 1900. From April to July 1900 he acted as Colonel on the Staff at

Delhi Delhi, officially the National Capital Territory (NCT) of Delhi, is a city and a union territory of India containing New Delhi, the capital of India. Straddling the Yamuna river, but spread chiefly to the west, or beyond its Bank (geography ...

, then fought with the

Cavalry Historically, cavalry (from the French word ''cavalerie'', itself derived from ''cheval'' meaning "horse") are groups of soldiers or warriors who Horses in warfare, fight mounted on horseback. Until the 20th century, cavalry were the most mob ...

Brigade in China between 1900 and 1901, where he led the final assault on

Peking Beijing, previously romanized as Peking, is the capital city of China. With more than 22 million residents, it is the world's most populous national capital city as well as China's second largest city by urban area after Shanghai. It is l ...

during the

. In late 1902 he commanded a brigade at

Shanghai Shanghai, Shanghainese: , Standard Chinese pronunciation: is a direct-administered municipality and the most populous urban area in China. The city is located on the Chinese shoreline on the southern estuary of the Yangtze River, with the ...

, with the temporary rank of major-general. He became commander of the

Hyderabad Hyderabad is the capital and largest city of the Indian state of Telangana. It occupies on the Deccan Plateau along the banks of the Musi River (India), Musi River, in the northern part of Southern India. With an average altitude of , much ...

Contingent in 1902 and of the

Agra Agra ( ) is a city on the banks of the Yamuna river in the Indian state of Uttar Pradesh, about south-east of the national capital Delhi and 330 km west of the state capital Lucknow. With a population of roughly 1.6 million, Agra is the ...

Brigade in 1903 and then became General Officer Commanding

Poona Pune ( ; , ISO 15919, ISO: ), previously spelled in English as Poona (List of renamed Indian cities and states#Maharashtra, the official name until 1978), is a city in the state of Maharashtra in the Deccan Plateau, Deccan plateau in Western ...

Division in 1904. He retired from the Indian Army in 1909. He was appointed Colonel of the 18th King George's Own Lancers from 1 January 1906 until 1921, then the 19th King George's Own Lancers from 1921 until his death. Richardson's military career however did not end with retirement from the Indian army. In 1913 he agreed to command the then newly formed Ulster Volunteer Force, created to fight Irish

Home rule Home rule is the government of a colony, dependent country, or region by its own citizens. It is thus the power of a part (administrative division) of a state or an external dependent country to exercise such of the state's powers of governan ...

, and oversaw the

Larne gun-running The Larne gun-running was a major gun smuggling operation organised in April 1914 in Ireland by Major Frederick H. Crawford and Captain Wilfrid Spender for the Ulster Unionist Council to equip the Ulster Volunteer Force. The operation involve ...

. Richardson died in 1931.

Honours

*CIE: Companion of the Order of the Indian Empire - ''1893'' *CSI: Companion of the Order of the Star of India - ''24 July 1901'' - in recognition of services during the campaign in China (

) *KCB:

Knight Commander of the Order of the Bath The Most Honourable Order of the Bath is a British order of chivalry founded by King George I of Great Britain, George I on 18 May 1725. Recipients of the Order are usually senior British Armed Forces, military officers or senior Civil Service ...

- '' 1909'' (Companion (CB) 1898)

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Richardson, George British military personnel of the Second Anglo-Afghan War British military personnel of the Boxer Rebellion Ulster Volunteers Knights Commander of the Order of the Bath South Staffordshire Regiment officers British military personnel of the Tirah campaign British Indian Army generals 1847 births 1931 deaths 19th-century British Army personnel

Biography

Honours

See also

References