Sir Neville Lyttelton | |
|---|---|
 General The Honourable Sir Neville Lyttelton | |
| Born | 28 October 1845 Hagley, Worcestershire |
| Died | 6 July 1931 (aged 85) Royal Hospital Chelsea, London |
| Allegiance | United Kingdom |
| Service/ | British Army |
| Years of service | 1865–1912 |
| Rank | General |
| Commands held | Commander-in-Chief, Ireland Chief of the General Staff Commander-in-Chief, South Africa 4th Division 2nd Division 4th Brigade 2nd Brigade 2nd Battalion Rifle Brigade 1st Battalion Rifle Brigade |
| Battles/wars | Fenian Raids Anglo-Egyptian War Mahdist War Second Boer War |
| Awards | Knight Grand Cross of the Order of the Bath Knight Grand Cross of the Royal Victorian Order Mentioned in Despatches Order of Osmanieh (Ottoman Empire) |
| Relations | Charles Masterman (son-in-law) |
General The Honourable Sir Neville Gerald Lyttelton, GCB, GCVO, PC (Ire) (28 October 1845 – 6 July 1931) was a British Army officer from the Lyttelton family who served against the Fenian Raids, and in the Anglo-Egyptian War, the Mahdist War and the Second Boer War. He was Chief of the General Staff at the time of the Haldane Reforms and then became Commander-in-Chief, Ireland.
Born the son of 4th Baron Lyttelton and Mary Lyttelton (née Glynne) and educated at Eton College, Lyttelton was commissioned into the Rifle Brigade in January 1865.[1] As a junior officer he was sent to Canada, where he helped defeat the Fenian raids in 1866 and served as secretary to the Oregon Boundary Commission in 1867.[1] He was promoted to lieutenant on 14 July 1869,[2] to captain on 13 October 1877[3] and to major on 22 February 1882.[4] In 1880 he was made private secretary to Hugh Childers, Secretary of State for War.[1]
He took part in the Anglo-Egyptian War in 1882 as an Aide-de-Camp to Sir John Adye, from 1 August 1882.[5] He saw action at the Battle of Tel el-Kebir and was mentioned in despatches.[6] He was promoted to brevet lieutenant colonel[7] and awarded the Order of Osmanieh (4th Class) on 17 November 1882.[8]
He became assistant military secretary to Lieutenant General Sir John Adye in his role as Governor of Gibraltar on 1 January 1883[9] and military secretary to Lord Reay, Governor of Bombay in 1885.[1] 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.[10] He was promoted to brevet colonel on 18 November 1886[11] and became second-in-command of the 3rd Battalion of his regiment in 1890.[1] Promoted to the substantive rank of lieutenant colonel on 9 November 1892,[12] 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.[1]
He went on to be assistant adjutant-general at Headquarters in December 1894 and assistant military secretary there in October 1897[1] and took part in the state funeral of Former prime minister William Gladstone in May 1898.[13]
He was given command of 2nd Brigade with the temporary rank of brigadier general on 13 July 1898[14] and led his brigade at the battle of Omdurman in September 1898 during the Mahdist War.[1]
He returned to his role as assistant military secretary at headquarters on 21 October 1898[15] and then, having become a supernumerary major general for distinguished service in the field on 15 November 1898[16] and promoted to the substantive rank of major general on 10 February 1899,[17] he briefly took back his old command at 2nd Brigade, now based at Aldershot Command, on 1 September 1899.[18]
Lyttelton served in the Second Boer War as commander of the 4th Brigade in South Africa from 9 October 1899.[19] He temporarily became general officer commanding the 2nd Division in February 1900,[20][21] then commanded the 4th Division,[22] 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.[1] Promoted to lieutenant general for distinguished service in the field on 22 March 1900,[23] 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."[24] He was in command of the troops in 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.[25][26] In this role Lyttelton and his wife sought to repair relations with the Boer community.[1] 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).[27]
On 12 February 1904 he was appointed Chief of the General Staff and a member of the newly formed Army Council.[28] This new post was created following the abolition of the post of Commander-in-Chief of the Forces as recommended by Lord Esher in the Esher Report.[1] Lyttelton was promoted to general on 9 April 1906.[29] This was the time of the Haldane Reforms which sought to implement both a new expeditionary force and a new 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".[1]
Lyttelton moved on to become Commander-in-Chief, Ireland on 10 May 1908.[30] He took part both in the funeral procession following the death of King Edward VII in May 1910[31] and the coronation procession for King George V in June 1911.[32] He was appointed Knight Grand Cross of the Royal Victorian Order on 12 July 1911[33] and retired on 10 August 1912.[34]
In retirement he was a member of the Mesopotamia Commission which sat in 1916/17.[35]
The King insisted on his appointment as Governor of the Royal Hospital Chelsea from 10 August 1912[36] until his death there on 6 July 1931.[1]
In 1883 Lyttelton married Katharine Sarah Stuart-Wortley, the youngest of the nine children of the politician James Stuart-Wortley and Jane Lawley. They had three daughters:[37]
