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Gen. Sir Neville Lyttelton
General Sir Neville Gerald Lyttelton, GCB, GCVO, PC (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-Egypti...view moreGeneral Sir Neville Gerald Lyttelton, GCB, GCVO, PC (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, he was commissioned into the Rifle Brigade in 1865. After serving in Canada and the U.S., he was promoted to lieutenant in 1869, rising to the rank of brevet lieutenant colonel and awarded the Order of Osmanieh (4th Class) in 1882.
Following further promotions between 1883-1892, 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. He was given command of 2nd Brigade with the temporary rank of brigadier general in 1898 and led his brigade at the battle of Omdurman in September 1898 during the Mahdist War.
He served in the Second Boer War as Commander of the 4th Brigade in South Africa from October 1899 and was promoted to lieutenant general for distinguished service in the field in March 1900. At war end, in 1902, he became Commander-in-Chief of the whole of South Africa and was knighted Commander of the Order of the Bath (KCB).
In 1904 he was appointed Chief of the General Staff and a member of the newly formed Army Council and promoted to general in 1906. He then moved on to become Commander-in-Chief, Ireland in 1908. He was appointed Knight Grand Cross of the Royal Victorian Order in 1911 and retired in 1912. In retirement he was a member of the Mesopotamia Commission which sat in 1916/17.
The King insisted he was appointed as Governor of the Royal Hospital Chelsea in 1912, until his death there in 1931, aged 85.view less