Thomas Aird (British Army officer)
Lieutenant-Colonel Thomas Aird (21 December 1760 – 1 November 1839) was a British Army officer of the Napoleonic era who was present at the Battle of Waterloo on 18 June 1815.
Career[edit]
Born in Maybole, South Ayrshire, Scotland, Aird joined the 2nd Dragoons as a cornet on 20 August 1784.[1] After serving with the Duke of York on the Continent in 1793–5, he was promoted to lieutenant in 1799 and then transferred to the Royal Waggon Train as a captain on 2 May 1800; promotion to major followed on 27 October 1808; to brevet Lieutenant Colonel on 2 June 1814 and to lieutenant-colonel on 4 May 1815.[2]
He served during the Peninsular War and in Flanders and commanded the Royal Waggon Train at the Battle of Waterloo.[3][2]
On 25 December 1818 he was placed on half pay[3] and died on 1 November 1839 in Sunderland, North East England. There is a memorial tablet dedicated to Aird in the Parish Church at Maybole.[1]
Personal life[edit]
Aird had a daughter who in 1814 married Lieutenant John Raleigh Elwes of the 71st (Highland) Regiment of Foot who died of wounds received at Waterloo a few days after the battle.[4]
References[edit]
- ^ a b Bromley & Bromley 2015, p. 27.
- ^ a b Philippart 1820, pp. 32–33.
- ^ a b Dalton 1904, p. 207.
- ^ Dalton 1904, p. 182.
Bibliography[edit]
- Bromley, Janet; Bromley, David (2015). Wellington's Men Remembered Volume 1: A Register of Memorials to Soldiers who Fought in the Peninsular War and at Waterloo- Volume I: A to L. Pen and Sword. ISBN 978-1-4738-5768-1.
- Dalton, Charles (1904). The Waterloo roll call. With biographical notes and anecdotes. London: Eyre and Spottiswoode.
- Philippart, John (1820). The Royal Military Calendar or Army Service and Commission Book. Vol. V.
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