ROBERTS OF KANDAHAR, PRE.. TORIA AND WATERFORD, Frederick Sleigh, 1sT EARL, British soldier: b. Cawnpore, India, 30 Sept. 1832; d. Saint Omer, France, 14 Nov. 1914. Son of General Sir Abraham Roberts; he was educated at Eton, Sandhurst and Addiscombe; and was commissioned sec ond lieutenant, Bengal artillery in 1851. At the outbreak of the Indian' mutiny he was dep uty assistant quartermaster-general, and fought at the siege and capture of Delhi and at the second relief of Lucknow. He won the Vic toria Cross at the acfsor•of Kali Nadi by re covering, Single-handed, a standard with which some sepoys were making off. In 1863 he was employed in the Umbeyla campaign, and four years later accompanied the Bengal brigade to Abyssinia under Gen. Donald Stewart. For his services be was made brevet lieutenant colonel, and in 1871 became a C.B., after serv ing with the Lushal expeditionary force. When in 1878 the war 'with Afghanistan broke out, he was placed command of the Kurram field force. At the close of the first phase of the war Roberts was awarded the thanks of both houses of Parliament and made a K.C.B. Then came the Kabul manslacre. The Indian government was unprepared; the force under Roberts was the only one in a positicin to strike for Kabul. He successfully fought his way through and spent several months of continual fighting around Sherpur. Eventually matters quieted down and the war was considered over, when in July 1880 Ayub Khan defeated General Burrows' brigade at Maiwand and sieged General Primrose in Kandahar. lessness seized the British government, but erts saved the situation. He set out with fewer than 10,000 men on the 313 miles' journey from Kabul to Kandahar.. It was a daring and highly risky undertaking to lead such a small force through a wild and hostile country without a base of operations or communications of any lcipd, and toward a point presumably already in the hands of the enemy. For four weeks the world heard nothing of Roberts and his column. They Kandahar, raised the siege and completely defeated Ayub Khan with a loss of 2,000 men, whilst the British losses amounted to only, 248.1cilled • and wounded. Again he ceived the thanks. of Parliament and was ated a baronet. His next post was that of commander-in-chief in Madras. The Majuba Hill disaster, occurred 27 Feb. 1881 and Britain more turned to General Roberts to trieve its fortunes. He was sent to South Africa, but only remained there 24 hours, peace having been concluded in the meantime. In 1885 hewas appointed commander-in-chief in India, and shortly after took charge of the final operations in the Burma War. The next seven years, though years of peace, brought no rest to the strenuous soldier. He built
strengthened and safeguarded the frontiers, prepared defense schemes, established regimental institutes, introduced skilled nursing in the military hospitals, improved the shooting of British as well as native troops, and devised many other benefits which have permanently written his name aver the Indian Empire. In 1893 he completed 41 years' service m India. After a spell of rest Lord Roberts took mand of, the forces in Ireland, and it seemed that his fighting days were over. Perhaps he himself wished it, for 44 years of toil and ship under foreign skies had left their mark upon him. He had a career and a reputation that the most ambitious might envy, but fate demanded that his life's work should be crowned by yet another effort —perhaps his greatest, To the old soldier it was a crown sorelly son fell bting at o enso, 1 days a ter winning the Victoria Cross. In his, 68th year Lord Roberts responded once more to his country's call; the eyes of the British Empire turned instinctively to the one man who, in their estimation, was the man to redeem the melancholy blunders and disasters of the South African War. Nor were their hopes disappointed. He returned to Eng land in 1900, after the capture of Pretoria and Bloemfontein, leaving Lord Kitchener to con tinue and wind up the guerrilla fighting. Roberts was then appointed commander-in-chief of the British army, made an Earl and a K.G., and was formally thanked for his services by King Edward VII. Parliament also voted him a grant of $500,000. He served in his new com mand until its abolition in 1904, when he retired The last 10 years of his life were devoted to exhorting his countrymen to place their great heritage in such a condition of strength and preparedness that they might be able to regard the unknown future with that confidence born of timely sacrifice and prudent foresight. He was fully aware of Germany's designs and preparations for a, war of world domination, but to a large extent his voice fell on deaf ears, In November 1914 he died while on a visit to the British line, resisting the German invasion of France. He was given a public funeral in Saint Paul's Cathedral. The earldom de scended, by special remainder, to his daughters and their issue. Lord Roberts published The Rise of Wellington' (1895) ; 'Forty-one Years in India' (1897; new ed., 1915). Consult Cob ban, J. M., 'The Life and Deeds of Earl Rob erts' (4 vols., London 1901) ; Forrest, Sir George, 'The Life of Lord Roberts' (New York 1914) ; Menpes, M., 'Lord Roberts' (New York 1915) ; Vickers, Roy, 'Lord Roberts: The Story of His Life' (London 1914).