Richard Dacres (British Army officer)

Richard James was born in 1799, the son of Richard Dacres, who became a vice-admiral in the Royal Navy, and his wife Martha Phillips Milligan.[1][2] The Dacres had a long history of naval service, Sydney's uncle, James Richard Dacres, was a vice-admiral, while his cousins Barrington Dacres and James Richard Dacres would both serve in the navy, the former becoming a post-captain, the latter a vice-admiral.[3] His younger brother, Sydney Dacres, also had a naval career, eventually reaching the rank of Admiral, and serving as a First Naval Lord.[4] Richard James attended the Royal Military Academy, Woolwich, in 1815, and embarked on a career with the army when he joined the Royal Artillery as a second lieutenant on 15 December 1817.[2][5]

Dacres was promoted to first lieutenant on 29 August 1825,[5] and a second captain on 18 December 1837.[6] He transferred to the Royal Horse Artillery in 1843 and was promoted to major on 11 November 1851.[5][7] He became a lieutenant-colonel on 23 February 1852, and was appointed to command the three troops of Royal Horse Artillery sent to take part in the Crimean War.[5] He and his forces were attached to the cavalry, commanded by Lord Lucan.[5] Dacres commanded his forces at the Battles of Alma in September 1854, Balaclava in October 1854 and Inkerman in November 1854, and throughout the Siege of Sevastopol.[2][5] He was with the headquarters-staff at Balaclava, having his horse killed under him.[5] When Brigadier-General Fox-Strangways was killed in the battle, Dacres took over command of all the artillery in the Crimea, retaining the post until the end of the war.[5]

He was advanced to the local rank of colonel on 23 February 1855,[5] brigadier general on 30 March 1855,[8] and was promoted to major-general on 29 June that year.[5] He was created a Knight Commander of the Bath on 5 July 1855 for his services in the capture of artillery at Sevastopol,[9] as well as a Commander of the Order of Savoy, and a Commander of the Légion d'honneur.[2][10][11] He was also among the officers authorised to accept the appointment to the Second Class of the Order of Medjidie on 2 March 1858.[12] Dacres was appointed Commandant of the Woolwich district in May 1859, holding the position until 1865.[2][5]

Dacres was made colonel-commandant of the Royal Horse Artillery on 28 July 1864, and was promoted to lieutenant general on 10 December 1864.[5][13] He was appointed a Knight Grand Cross of the Order of the Bath on 2 June 1869.[14] He was retired from active service at the rank of colonel-commandant on 2 October 1877,[15] and was subsequently appointed to the position of Constable of the Tower on 27 July 1881,[5] a position he occupied when the tower was one of the London targets bombed on 24 January 1885 by Feinian terrorists, wounding several people and causing some damage by fire.[16] He became master gunner of England in 1882.[5] Dacres was made a field marshal in July 1886, but died at Brighton on 6 December 1886 at the age of 87.[5] He was succeeded as Constable of the Tower and Lord Lieutenant of the Tower Hamlets by The Lord Napier of Magdala on 6 January 1887.[17]

Dacres married Frances Brooking Thomas, granddaughter of William Bevil Thomas, at St. John's, Newfoundland, on 3 November 1840.[18]

The Battle of Alma, at which Dacres commanded the Royal Horse Artillery, during the Crimean War

• Annual Register. Vol. 83. London: F. & J. Rivington. 1842.
• Dod, Robert P. (1860). The Peerage, Baronetage, and Knightage, of Great Britain and Ireland for 1860. London: Whitaker and Co.
• Laughton, J. K. (2004). "Dacres, Sir Sydney Colpoys (1805–1884)". In rev. Andrew Lambert (ed.). Oxford Dictionary of National Biography. Oxford Dictionary of National Biography (online ed.). Oxford University Press. doi:10.1093/ref:odnb/6997. Retrieved 21 September 2007. (Subscription or UK public library membership required.)
• Melchiori, Barbara Arnett (1985). Terrorism in the Late Victorian Novel. Taylor & Francis. ISBN 0-7099-3583-8.
• Stephen, Leslie, ed. (1888). "Dacres, Richard James" . Dictionary of National Biography. Vol. 13. London: Smith, Elder & Co.
• Tracy, Nicholas (2006). Who's who in Nelson's Navy: 200 Naval Heroes. London: Chatham Publishing. ISBN 1-86176-244-5.