General Sir Richard Harrison, GCB, CMG, 1837-1931
/General Sir Richard Harrison, GCB, CMG 1837-1931
General Sir Richard Harrison, GCB, CMG is commemorated by a memorial in the South Quire Aisle, above which a banner once hung.
Colonel Commandant, Royal Engineers. Fought at Scutari during the Crimean War in 1856, took part in the Siege of Lucknow during the Indian Rebellion of 1857 and in the regions of Rohilkhand and Awadh. Later sent to China, taking part in the Second Opium War. Present in the Battle of Taku Forts (1860) and its following capture. Battle of Ulundi. Command a British contingent in Transvaal. Served at the Battle of Tel el-Kebir in the 1882 Anglo-Egyptian War. Colonel of staff during the Nile Expedition. Extensively decorated during his later years (biography on Wikipedia).
Inscription reads:
HIS BANNER AND CREST WERE PLACED
HERE IN IOVING MEMORY OF GENERAL
SIR RICHARD HARRISON GCB, CMG
COLONEL COMMANDANT ROYAL ENGINEERS
WHO DEPARTED THIS LIFE ON SEPTEMBER
25th 1931 AT THE AGE OF 94 YEARS.
Photograph of General Harrison's banner before its removal. The tablet is situated in the South Quire aisle opposite the South Door. The crest is still in position, but his banner became ragged with age and was removed.
Richard Harrison was born in 1837 and, after education at Harrow, was commissioned in the RE in July, 1855. From 1856 to 1859 he served in India during the Mutiny, taking part in operations under Outram. In 1859 he was in Sir Hope Grant's expedition to China, including the capture of the Taku Forts. For this he was recommended for a Brevet Majority, which he received in 1864.
After a short service in Canada he joined the S.M.E. Chatham in 1861, where he became Brigade Major and was Secretary, R.E. Committee, 1866 to 1869. In 1875 he passed the final examination at the Staff College. From 1876 to 1879 he was at Aldershot with the R.E. Train and in 1879 was sent out to South Africa for the Zulu War with the 30th Company R.E. He then held the rank of Lieut.-Colonel and on arrival in South Africa he handed over the duties of C.R.E. and O.C. Company to his second in command, Captain Bindon Blood, to take up the appointment of A.Q.M.G. (Intelligence), which he held throughout the campaign, receiving the C.B. for his services. In I880 he became A.Q.M.G., Aldershot. In the Egyptian War of 1882 he was appointed A.A.G. and Chief Staff Officer to Major-General Earle who was in command of the Line of Communications and received the C.M.G. In 1884 he was invalided home and was for a short time on half pay until he was appointed C.R.E., S.E. District, in 1886, and C.R.E., Aldershot, 1886 to 1888.
Promoted Major-General in July, 1888, at the age of 51, in June, 1889, he was Commandant, Royal Military Academy, until in 1890 he was appointed to the Command of the Western District where he remained till 1895, having been promoted Lieut.-General in 1893 and General in 1895.
In 1897 he was temporarily appointed Quartermaster-General at the War Office and transferred to Inspector-General of Fortifications in 1898, which he held until his retirement in 1903. He was promoted K.C.B. in 1889 and G.C.B. in 1903.
After his retirement he continued to take a great interest in everything which affected the Corps and gave most valuable assistance and advice during the changes of organization which followed the abolition of the office of I.G.F. In 1907 he suggested the formation of the R.E. Corps Committee to take over some of the social duties of the I.G.F. and acted as President of this Committee for fifteen years. He was very interested in the R.E. Museum at Chatham and assisted in the negotiations which resulted in the use of the old model room for this purpose.
Throughout his service he had always been trusted by his superiors and subordinates alike, and it was fortunate for the Army and the Corps that he was at the head of the Engineer branch of the War Office during the crucial times of the South African War.
He died in 1931 at the age of 94. A memoir was published in the R.E. Journal in December, 1931.
The Death of the Prince Imperial of France
Louis Napoleon, Prince Imperial of France and son of Napoleon IlI was exiled to England after the defeat of France by Germeny in the Franco-Prussian War of 1870. He attended the Royal Academy at Woolwich and passed out well. Eager for military glory he was finally allowed to go to South Africa as an observer in the Zulu war. He held no official military position although he wore the uniform of an officer in the Royal Artillery. He was attached to the staff of General (then It.Col.) Richard Harrison and on the advance of the British Army to Ulundi he accompanied a patrol under the command of Lt. Carey.
The patrol seems to have been insufficiently organized, for which Harrison later came in for some criticism. Although he was really only a civilian observer, the Prince seems to have assumed command of the patrol, and Carey, because of the air of royal authority which the Prince held, allowed him to do so.
The party was ambushed by a band of Zulus and taken unawares the horses bolted. The Prince was unable to mount his charger and was dragged along, receiving damage to his right arm from his horse's hooves. He was overtaken by the Zulus and stabbed to death.
Carey was later blamed for deserting the Prince and was court-martialled. Found guilty he was cashiered and sent home. He was later re-instated to his regiment but lost sympathy through his protracted attempts to justify his actions. He never really lived the incident down and died in 1884 in India.
From the notebooks ‘The Naval and Military Memorials of Rochester Cathedral’ (1979)
by Roy Trett, OBE, TD,
Rochester Cathedral Chapter Library
The medieval tombs of the Presbytery and Quire Transept have had a tortured history which many effigies apparently moved and several defaced along with the medieval memorials and brasses over the Early Modern period.
Rochester Cathedral features an exceptionally large collection of Colonial-era military memorials and artefacts. This series has begun to highlight the stories behind these collections and their place in our global heritage.
