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 18June 1815.

Career
Born in Maybole, South Ayrshire, Scotland, Aird joined the 2nd Dragoons as a cornet on 20August 1784. 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 2May 1800; promotion to Major followed on 27October 1808; to brevet Lieutenant Colonel on 2June 1814 and to Lieutenant-Colonel on 4May 1815.

He served during the Peninsular War and in Flanders and commanded the Royal Waggon Train at the Battle of Waterloo.

On 25December 1818 he was placed on half pay and died on 1November 1839 in Sunderland, North East England. There is a memorial tablet dedicated to Aird in the Parish Church at Maybole.

Personal life
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.