Richard Williams

Military Person

1764 – 1839

81

Who was Richard Williams?

Colonel Commandant Sir Richard Williams KCB was a career British officer of the Royal Marines active during the American Revolutionary War, the French Revolutionary Wars, the Napoleonic Wars, and the War of 1812.

Sir Richard Williams is notable for being the first Commanding Officer of the Royal Marine Artillery, and for subsequently commanding the Portsmouth Division of Royal Marines during 1827-1835.

In American history he is remembered as the senior ranking officer of the Royal Marines to serve on the British North America and West Indies Station during the War of 1812.

Historian Paul Harris Nicolas, himself a former Royal Marine officer and the author of the two volume Historical Record of the Marine Forces, paid tribute to Colonel William's firm hand in controlling the conduct of his troops on foreign soil. Sir Richard would not condone looting on the part of those under his command.

In the interest of disambiguation, another distinguished British Royal Marines officer of his era had nearly the same name, and the two Royal Marines officers have been readily confused with one another by both contemporaries and historians.

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Born
1764
Died
1839

Submitted
on July 23, 2013

Citation

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