Frederick Roberts

Full title:

Field Marshal Fredrick Sleigh Roberts, 1st Earl Roberts

Dates:

1832-1914

Claim to fame:

Commanded the victorious army during the Second Afghan War and the successful field army in the Boer War. He died on an inspection tour of the trenches in 1914. Held in high affection by his troops.

Nickname:

"Bobs"

Roberts (1832-1914) was commissioned into the Bengal Artillery in 1851. His subsequent career was spent almost entirely as a staff officer but he still saw a good deal of active service on the Indian sub-continent and Abyssinia.

Roberts won the Victoria Cross at Khudagani during the Indian Mutiny (1857-59) for repeated acts of gallantry, but first came to public notice during the Second Afghan War (1878-80) when he commanded the Kurram Field Force, leading it to victory at Peiwar Kotal in December 1878, and later the Kabul Field Force which occupied the Afghan capital in October 1879 following the murder of the British envoy.

Roberts also led his troops on the legendary march from Kabul to Kandahar. Despite the difficult terrain and the high temperatures he covered 280 miles (400km) in 20 days and hardly lost a man. In September 1880 he defeated Ayub Khan outside Kandahar and relieved the besieged garrison. For his services, Roberts received the thanks of Parliament, and was appointed both Knight Grand Cross of the Order of the Bath (GCB) and Companion of the Order of the Indian Empire (CIE), becoming a baronet the following year.

Roberts was promoted to lieutenant-general in 1883 and after a brief appointment as Governor of Natal and Commander-in-Chief in South Africa, he was given the command of the Madras Army. In 1885 Roberts succeeded to the post of Commander-in-Chief, India, a position he held until 1893. Appointed Knight Grand Commander of the Order of the Indian Empire (GCIE) in 1887, he was promoted to general in 1890, and created Baron Roberts in 1892. During his tenure in India he instituted many reforms of the Indian Army and greatly assisted the development of frontier communications and defence. Roberts was made Commander-in-Chief in Ireland in 1895 and promoted to field marshal.

After the early reverses of the Boer War (1899-1902), Roberts took over command of the British forces in South Africa. From December 1899, together with his Chief of Staff Major-General Horatio Herbert, Lord Kitchener, he revitalised the British military effort. Kindly, unassuming and courteous, Roberts was popularly known as ‘Bobs’. His small stature and elderly appearance - he was 68 when he left South Africa in 1900 - probably increased the veneration which he received from both the public and soldiers.

On returning to Britain he was made a Knight of the Garter and created Earl Roberts. Despite a bitter rivalry with the Wolseley ring, Roberts was made the last Commander-in-Chief of the British Army, a position he held for three years until 1904. Appointed to the Order of Merit, Roberts died of pneumonia at St Omer, France, during a visit to Indian troops in 1914. After lying in state in Westminster Hall, one of only two non-Royals to do so in the 20th century, the other being Winston Churchill, he was given a state funeral.

Field Marshal Lord Roberts VC KP GCB GCSI GCIE, c1900. Oil on canvas by Lowes Cato Dickinson (1819-1908), 1901.

NAM 1974-11-9

"As a leader of men in the field he is, I believe, without equal."

Sir Alfred Milner on Lord Roberts.