Neville Lyttelton: Difference between revisions

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[[General (United Kingdom)|General]] '''The Honourable Sir Neville Gerald Lyttelton''', {{post-nominals|country=GBR|size=100%|sep=,|GCB|GCVO|PCi}} (28 October 1845 – 6 July 1931) was a [[British Army]] officer from the [[Lyttelton family]] who served against the [[Fenian Raids]], and in the [[1882 Anglo-Egyptian War|Anglo-Egyptian War]], the [[Mahdist War]] and the [[Second Boer War]]. He was [[Chief of the General Staff (United Kingdom)|Chief of the General Staff]] at the time of the [[Haldane Reforms]] and then became [[Commander-in-Chief, Ireland]].

==ArmyMilitary career==

HeLyttelton took part in the [[Anglo-Egyptian War (1882)|Anglo-Egyptian War]] in 1882 as an [[Aide-de-Camp]] to [[John Miller Adye|Sir John Adye]], from 1 August 1882.<ref>{{London Gazette|issue=25134|page=3580|date=1 August 1882}}</ref> He saw action at the [[Battle of Tel el-Kebir]] and was [[mentioned in despatches]].<ref>{{London Gazette|issue=25162|page=4879|date=2 November 1882}}</ref> He was promoted to brevet [[lieutenant colonel]]<ref>{{London Gazette|issue=25169|page=5174|date=17 November 1882}}</ref> and awarded the [[Order of Osmanieh]] (4th Class) on 17 November 1882.<ref>{{London Gazette|issue=25169|page=5168|date=17 November 1882}}</ref>

HeLyttelton became assistant military secretary to Lieutenant General Sir John Adye in his role as [[Governor of Gibraltar]] on 1 January 1883<ref>{{London Gazette|issue=25175|page=6250|date=8 December 1882}}</ref> and military secretary to [[Donald Mackay, 11th Lord Reay|Lord Reay]], [[List of Governors of Bombay|Governor of Bombay]] in 1885.<ref name=odnb/> In his young life he made friends, mixing in whiggish aristocratic circles with Edward Grey and Arthur Balfour, later the shapers of imperial foreign policy.<ref>D.Owen, "The Military Perspective", p. 35</ref> He was promoted to brevet [[colonel]] on 18 November 1886<ref>{{London Gazette|issue=25645|page=5530|date=16 November 1886}}</ref> and became second-in-command of the 3rd Battalion of his regiment in 1890.<ref name=odnb/> Promoted to the substantive rank of [[lieutenant colonel]] on 9 November 1892,<ref>{{London Gazette|issue=26343|page=6238|date=8 November 1892}}</ref> he became commanding officer of the 1st Battalion of his regiment in 1893 and went on to be commanding officer of the 2nd Battalion of his regiment in Ireland.<ref name=odnb/>

HeLyttelton was given command of [[2nd Infantry Brigade (United Kingdom)|2nd Brigade]] with the temporary rank of [[Brigadier general (United Kingdom)|brigadier general]] on 13 July 1898<ref>{{London Gazette|issue=26988|page=4355|date=19 July 1898}}</ref> and led his brigade at the [[battle of Omdurman]] in September 1898 during the [[Mahdist War]].<ref name=odnb/>

HeLyttelton returned to his role as assistant military secretary at headquarters on 21 October 1898<ref>{{London Gazette|issue=27015|page=6056|date=18 October 1898}}</ref> and then, having become a supernumerary [[major general]] for distinguished service in the field on 15 November 1898<ref>{{London Gazette|issue=27023|page=6689|date=15 November 1898}}</ref> and promoted to the substantive rank of major general on 10 February 1899,<ref>{{London Gazette|issue=27064|page=1906|date=21 March 1899}}</ref> he briefly took back his old command at 2nd Brigade, now based at [[Aldershot Command]], on 1 September 1899.<ref>{{London Gazette|issue=27113|page=5443|date=1 September 1899}}</ref>

Lyttelton served in the [[Second Boer War]] as commander of the [[4th Infantry Brigade (United Kingdom)|4th Brigade]] in South Africa from 9 October 1899.<ref>{{London Gazette|issue=27126|page=6180|date=13 October 1899}}</ref> He temporarily became general officer commanding the [[2nd Infantry Division (United Kingdom)|2nd Division]] in February 1900,<ref>{{Cite newspaper The Times |title=The War -– Natal|date=16 February 1900 |page=5 |issue=36067}}</ref><ref>{{London Gazette|issue=27282|page=937|date=8 February 1901}}</ref> then commanded the [[4th Infantry Division (United Kingdom)|4th Division]],<ref>{{London Gazette|issue=27282|page=962|date=8 February 1901}}</ref> and was involved in the [[Battle of Spion Kop]] in January 1900 and the [[Battle of Vaal Krantz]] in February 1900, leading to the [[Relief of Ladysmith]] later that month.<ref name=odnb/> Promoted to [[Lieutenant-general (British Army)|lieutenant general]] for distinguished service in the field on 22 March 1900,<ref>{{London Gazette|issue=27306|page=2703|date=19 April 1901}}</ref> [[Frederick Roberts, 1st Earl Roberts|Lord Roberts]] in his despatch referred to Lyttelton as an officer "with great coolness under fire, and considerable tactical knowledge and resource...an excellent commander in the field."<ref>{{London Gazette|issue=27282|page=976|date=8 February 1901}}</ref> He was in command of the troops in [[Colony of Natal|Natal]] until June 1902, when he became [[Commander-in-Chief]] of the whole of South Africa following the end of the Second Boer War the previous month.<ref>{{Cite newspaper The Times |title=Latest intelligence – The South African command|date=12 June 1902 |page=7 |issue=36792}}</ref><ref>{{London Gazette|issue=27496|page=7339|date=18 November 1902}}</ref> In this role Lyttelton and his wife sought to repair relations with the [[Boer]] community.<ref name=odnb/> In the South Africa honours list published on 26 June 1902, Lyttelton was knighted as a Knight Commander of the [[Order of the Bath]] (KCB).<ref>{{London Gazette |issue= 27448 |supp=y |page=4191 |date= 26 June 1902 }}</ref>

On 12 February 1904 heLyttelton was appointed [[Chief of the General Staff (United Kingdom)|Chief of the General Staff]] and a member of the newly formed [[Army Council (1904)|Army Council]].<ref>{{London Gazette|issue=27645|page=939|date=12 February 1904}}</ref> This new post was created following the abolition of the post of [[Commander-in-Chief of the Forces]] as recommended by [[Reginald Brett, 2nd Viscount Esher|Lord Esher]] in the [[Esher Report]].<ref name=odnb/> Lyttelton was promoted to [[general]] on 9 April 1906.<ref>{{London Gazette|issue=27907|page=2798|date=24 April 1906}}</ref> This was the time of the [[Haldane Reforms]] which sought to implement both a new [[Expeditionary warfare|expeditionary force]] and a new [[Territorial Force|territorial force]], but according to Edward M Spiers, Lyttelton was not up to the task – he was "feckless, malleable, and failed to lead the Army Council".<ref name=odnb/>

In retirement heLyttelton was a member of the [[Special Commissions (Dardanelles and Mesopotamia) Act 1916|Mesopotamia Commission]] which sat in 1916/17.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.british-history.ac.uk/report.asp?compid=16611 |title='Appendix 1', Office-Holders in Modern Britain: Volume 10: Officials of Royal Commissions of Inquiry 1870–1939 (1995), pp. 85–8|publisher=British History Online|access-date=12 February 2012}}</ref>

* [[Lucy Masterman|Lucy Blanche Lyttleton]] (1884−19771884–1977), who married the politician [[Charles Masterman]] and had three children, including [[Margaret Masterman|Margaret]]

* Hilda Margaret Lyttleton (1886−19721886–1972), who married Arthur Morton Grenfell and had four children, including Mary (mother of [[William Waldegrave, Baron Waldegrave of North Hill|William Waldegrave]]), [[Frances Campbell-Preston|Frances]] and Laura (the wife of [[Bernard Fergusson, Baron Ballantrae|Lord Ballantrae]])

* Mary Hermione Lyttleton (1894−1894–), who married the businessman [[Lionel Hichens]] and had six children, including Stella (wife of [[Richard Hornby]]) and [[Andrew Hichens|Andrew]]<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.winchestercollegeatwar.com/archive/hichens-john/ |title=Hichens, John |publisher=[[Winchester College]] |access-date=2019-06-24}}</ref>