Canadian Personallities
Lieutenant-Colonel François-Louis Lessard (1860-1927)
Commanding Officer, Royal Canadian Dragoons
Lieutenant-Colonel F-L Lessard, Commanding Officer, Royal Canadian
Dragoons in South Africa, March December 1900.
Lessard served in the militia in Quebec City before joining the
newly formed Permanent Force cavalry in 1884. He served during the
Northwest Campaign of 1885, although his unit did not see combat. He
initially went to South Africa as one of the Canadian officers who were
attached to the British Army to learn about the latest developments in
warfare. He rode with British General Sir John French's cavalry division
in the advance that relieved the besieged city of Kimberley in February
1900. In the meantime the Canadian government appointed him to command
the 1st Battalion, Canadian Mounted Rifles, which arrived in South
Africa in March 1900. Lessard succeeded in having the unit redesignated
the Royal Canadian Dragoons.
Under Lessard's leadership the unit achieved an outstanding record
in the march from Bloemfontein to Pretoria and during the opening months
of the guerrilla phase of the war. A 'very popular and efficient'
commanding officer, and an aggressive leader in combat, he was also
fortunate to be able to count on officers and men of the highest
standard. The Royal Canadian
Dragoons was perhaps the most effective
unit to serve in South Africa.
Promoted major-general in 1912, Lessard played an important part in
organizing the Canadian forces during the First World War, but did not
serve overseas.