Neville Lyttelton

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]

The Battle of Omdurman, at which Lyttelton led the 2nd Brigade, during the Mahdist War

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]

Lyttelton was present at the Siege of Ladysmith

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 he was appointed as Governor of the Royal Hospital Chelsea from 10 August 1912[36] until his death there on 6 July 1931.[1]

"4th Division". Caricature by Spy published in Vanity Fair in 1901.

In 1883 he married Katharine Sarah Stuart-Wortley; they had three daughters, the eldest being Lucy Blanche.[37] His grandson, Andrew Hichens, was a first-class cricketer.[38]

• Archives of General Sir Neville Lyttelton held by Queen Mary, University of London Archives