Field MarshalFrederick Rudolph Lambart, 10th Earl of Cavan (16 October 1865 – 28 August 1946), known asViscount Kilcoursie from 1887 until 1900, was aBritish Army officer who served aschief of the imperial general staff (CIGS), the professional head of the British Army, in the 1920s. After being commissioned into theGrenadier Guards in 1885, he served in theSecond Boer War as a company commander, then served with distinction during theFirst World War as a brigade, divisional, corps, and army commander, and later advised theBritish government on the implementation of theGeddes report, which advocated a large reduction in defence expenditure; he presided over a major reduction in the size of the British Army.
Born into an aristocratic family ofAnglo-Irish descent, he was the son ofthe 9th Earl of Cavan and Mary Sneade Lambart (née Olive). He was educated atEton College,Christ Church, Oxford, and theRoyal Military College, Sandhurst;[2] As there were no vacancies at that time for his preferred regiment, theColdstream Guards,[3] so he was instead commissioned as a lieutenant into theGrenadier Guards on 29 August 1885.[4] He gained the courtesy title of Viscount Kilcoursie in 1887 when his father succeeded to the Earldom and was appointedaide-de-camp toFrederick Stanley, theGovernor General of Canada, in 1891.[5][6]
He was promoted tocaptain on 16 October 1897,[7] after he had been appointedregimental adjutant on 25 August 1897,[8] a position he held until 17 March 1900.[9] By then, the Grenadier Guards were involved in theSecond Boer War in South Africa. He saw action as a company commander in theBattle of Biddulphsberg in May 1900,[10] and, having succeeded to his father's titles on 14 July 1900,[11] took part in operations against theBoers in 1901 and for which he was latermentioned in despatches.[12] Following the end of the war in June 1902, which prompted him to write in his diary that it was "not far removed from the happiest day of my life",[11] he leftCape Town on the SSSicilia and returned toSouthampton in late July.[13]
After promotion tomajor on 28 October 1902,[14] he became second-in-command of the 2nd Battalion, Grenadier Guards in July 1905.[15] He was promoted again tolieutenant colonel and appointedcommanding officer (CO) of the 1st Battalion, Grenadier Guards on 14 February 1908, taking over from Brevet ColonelRobert Scott-Kerr.[15][16]
He was appointed aMember of the Royal Victorian Order Fourth Class on 29 June 1910,[17] which was awarded personally to him byGeorge V.[18] He was promoted tocolonel on 4 October 1911,[19] After four years as CO of his battalion, he was placed on thehalf-pay list.[20] By now having "come to the conclusion that his military career had run its course",[21] he retired from the army on 8 November 1913[22] and becameMaster of Foxhounds for the Hertfordshire Hunt.[15] At that time he lived at Wheathampstead House inWheathampstead in his native Hertfordshire.[23]
He was recalled at the start of theFirst World War and, after receiving a promotion to the temporary rank ofbrigadier general on 22 August,[24] took command of the2nd London Brigade of the1st London Division, aTerritorial Force (TF) unit then stationed in theEast End of London.[25]
.jpg)
His stay with the brigade was destined to be short as he was appointed CO of the4th (Guards) Brigade on 18 September[26] after its commander, Brigadier General Robert Scott-Kerr, his predecessor as CO of the 1st Grenadiers several years earlier, was badly wounded.[27] Cavan, by now in France, went on to lead the brigade, which then formed part of the2nd Division, at theFirst Battle of Ypres in October.[15][28] Included as one of the four battalions under his brigade's command was the 1st Battalion of theHertfordshire Regiment, in which many of his old neighbours were serving.[15][29] Appointed aCompanion of the Order of the Bath on 18 February 1915,[30] he also led the brigade at theBattle of Festubert in May 1915.[31][15]
At the still relatively young age of 49, Cavan was promoted tomajor general[32][33] and given command of the50th (Northumbrian) Division on 29 June 1915; a mere six weeks later he was appointed the firstGeneral Officer Commanding (GOC) of theGuards Division[34] and, having been appointed Commander of the FrenchLegion of Honour on 10 September 1915,[35] he led his division at theBattle of Loos later that month.[15] He was elected anIrish representative peer on 24 September 1915 and as such was one of the last to be so elected before the creation of theIrish Free State.[36] In his role as GOC of the Guards Division he informed MajorWinston Churchill of the latter's attachment to the2nd Battalion of the Grenadiers, which formed part of his division, in November 1915.[37][38]
The following January 1916, Cavan, "his star in the ascendant",[39] was promoted to temporarylieutenant-general[40][15] and was placed at the head ofXIV Corps and took part in theBattle of the Somme that summer.[15] He was made a Grand Officer of the BelgianOrder of the Crown on 2 November 1916[41] and appointed aKnight of the Order of St Patrick on 18 November 1916.[42]
Promoted to the substantive rank of lieutenant general[15] on 1 January 1917,[43] he led his corps at theBattle of Passchendaele in the summer and autumn of 1917,[15] during which "XIV Corps achieved every objective it was given."[44] He was awarded the rank of Grand Officer of theLegion of Honour on 25 September 1917[45] and was redeployed with his corps to theItalian front in October 1917, after theItalians had suffered disastrously at theBattle of Caporetto.[15] Advanced toKnight Commander of the Order of the Bath on 1 January 1918,[46] Cavan was appointedcommander-in-chief (C-in-C) of the British Forces inItaly on 10 March 1918, after his predecessor, GeneralSir Herbert Plumer, had been recalled to the Western Front after the Germans had launched theirSpring offensive.[47][15]
After reverses on the Western Front in March and April 1918, Prime MinisterLloyd George and the War Cabinet had been keen to remove Field MarshalSir Douglas Haig as C-in-C of the BEF, but had been unable to think of a suitable successor. In July Cavan was summoned to London, supposedly to discuss the Italian Front but in reality, as Cabinet SecretaryMaurice Hankey put it, "to 'vet' him with a view to his replacing Haig" Hankey claimed to have dissuaded the prime minister by pointing to Cavan's lack of ideas as to how to defeat the Austro-Hungarians.[48] Haig'svictory at Amiens in August secured his position.[49]
During Cavan’s time in Italy, one event has stood out in particular: the sudden and somewhat unexpected (and perhaps unjustified) relief of one of his three division commanders, Major-General Sir Robert Fanshawe, GOC 48th (South Midland) Division. Following the Battle of Asiago in June 1918, a fundamental disagreement arose regarding defensive tactics. Fanshawe had implemented a system of "elastic defence" or "defence in depth," which involved holding the front line thinly and maintaining strong reserves to counter-attack breakthroughs.[50]
While this strategy eventually proved successful in containing the Austro-Hungarian advance and recapturing lost positions, Cavan took issue with the fact that the initial assault had successfully broken into the British front line, leading to significant, albeit temporary, losses of ground and prisoners. Cavan argued that Fanshawe had failed to sufficiently reinforce the front line despite warnings of an imminent attack delivered during a briefing on 14 June. From Cavan's perspective, the resulting casualties reflected a failure of generalship, particularly given the critical manpower shortages facing the army. Despite the division’s ultimate success in restoring the original line, Fanshawe was removed from his post on 20 June 1918 and replaced by Major-General Harold Walker.[50]
On the Italian Front Cavan, who in late June was promoted to the temporary rank of general,[51] led theTenth Army which struck a decisive blow at theBattle of Vittorio Veneto, the action that sounded the final death knell of theAustro-Hungarian Army towards theclose of the war.[15]
Following the end of the war theKing of Italy awarded him theWar Cross for Military Valor[52] and made him a Commander,[53] and subsequently a Grand Officer, of theMilitary Order of Savoy[54] as well as appointing him a Grand Officer of theOrder of St Maurice and St Lazarus.[55] Cavan was also appointed aKnight Grand Cross of the Order of St Michael and St George for his contribution to operations in Italy,[56] awarded theAmerican Distinguished Service Medal[57] and appointed to the ChineseOrder of Wen-Hu (1st Class).[58]
His first appointment after the war was when he becamelieutenant of the Tower of London on 22 March 1920.[59] Appointedaide-de-camp general tothe King on 1 October 1920,[60] he succeeded GeneralLord Rawlinson as general officer commanding-in-chief (GOC-in-C) ofAldershot Command on 2 November 1920[61][62][63] before being promoted to the substantive rank of general on 2 November 1921.[64]
He was appointedChief of the Imperial General Staff on 19 February 1922.[65][66] He may have been chosen as a steady man, the antithesis of his predecessor, GeneralSir Henry Wilson, whose relations with the government had deteriorated, and who was in Wilson's view more likely to agree to withdraw troops from Egypt and India.[67] CIGS Cavan advised the Government on the implementation of theGeddes report, which advocated a large reduction in defence expenditure, and he officiated over a major reduction in the size of the British Army.[68] Earl Cavan made a famous speech at the 'Royal Academy Banquet' to his equals in government and fellow peers and royalty.[69] Advanced toKnight Grand Cross of the Order of the Bath in theNew Year Honours 1926,[70] he retired on 19 February 1926.[71]
He was also colonel of theIrish Guards from 23 May 1925[72] and colonel of theBedfordshire and Hertfordshire Regiment from 10 December 1928.[73]
In May 1927, he accompaniedthe Duke andDuchess of York to Australia to open theProvisional Parliament House at Canberra, for which he was appointed a Knight Grand Cross of the Civil Division of theOrder of the British Empire on 8 July 1927.[74] He becameCaptain of the Honourable Corps of Gentlemen-at-Arms on 23 July 1929[75] and was promoted tofield marshal on 31 October 1932.[76] He also took part in the procession for the funeral ofKing George V in January 1936[77] and was the Field-Marshal Commanding the Troops for thecoronation of George VI on 12 May 1937.[78]
During theSecond World War he served as Commanding Officer of the HertfordshireLocal Defence Volunteers.[68] He died at theLondon Clinic in Devonshire Place inLondon on 28 August 1946.[68]
He was buried in the family plot at the churchyard inAyot St Lawrence, where a seven-foot-tall red granite cross is his headstone. His is the churchyard's only burial registered asCommonwealth war grave.[79][80]
He married on 1 August 1893 to Caroline Inez Crawley (1870–1920), daughter ofGeorge Baden Crawley and Eliza Inez Hulbert, at Digswell Church inDigswell,Hertfordshire.[81][82] She predeceased her husband; they had no children.
He married, secondly, on 27 November 1922 to Lady Hester Joan Byng,[83] daughter of ReverendFrancis Byng, 5th Earl of Strafford and Emily Georgina Kerr, at St. Mark's Church in North Audley Street,Mayfair,London.[81][84] His second wife was the niece of his army colleague Field MarshalByng, who was a younger half-brother of the 5th Earl of Strafford. Hester, Countess of Cavan, was appointed aDame Commander of the Order of the British Empire in 1927.[74] The couple had two daughters:
As he had no son, the 10th Earl was succeeded by his brother,Horace.[83]
Lady Elizabeth's pretty sister, Lady Joanna Lambart was at the Ball escorted by Mr. Derek Ash. The Hon. William Douglas Home and his wife
| Military offices | ||
|---|---|---|
| Preceded by | GOC 50th (Northumbrian) Division June–August 1915 | Succeeded by |
| New post | GOC Guards Division 1915–1916 | Succeeded by |
| Preceded by | GOC-in-C Aldershot Command 1920–1922 | Succeeded by |
| Preceded by | Chief of the Imperial General Staff 1922–1926 | Succeeded by |
| Political offices | ||
| Preceded by | Representative peer for Ireland 1915–1946 | Office lapsed |
| Preceded by | Captain of the Honourable Corps of Gentlemen-at-Arms 1929–1931 | Succeeded by |
| Peerage of Ireland | ||
| Preceded by | Earl of Cavan 1900–1946 | Succeeded by |
.jpg)
