Field Marshal Field marshal (or field-marshal, abbreviated as FM) is the most senior military rank, ordinarily senior to the general officer ranks. Usually, it is the highest rank in an army and as such few persons are appointed to it. It is considered as ...

Frederick Rudolph Lambart, 10th Earl of Cavan, (16 October 1865 – 28 August 1946), known as Viscount Kilcoursie from 1887 until 1900, was a British Army officer and Chief of the Imperial General Staff. He served in the Second Boer War, led

XIV Corps 14 Corps, 14th Corps, Fourteenth Corps, or XIV Corps may refer to: * XIV Corps (Grande Armée), a unit of the Imperial French Army during the Napoleonic Wars * XIV Corps (German Empire), a unit of the Imperial German Army prior to and during World ...

during the First World War, and later advised the Government on the implementation of the Geddes report, which advocated a large reduction in defence expenditure; he presided over a major reduction in the size of the British Army.

Early career

Born into an aristocratic family of

Anglo-Irish Anglo-Irish people () denotes an ethnic, social and religious grouping who are mostly the descendants and successors of the English Protestant Ascendancy in Ireland. They mostly belong to the Anglican Church of Ireland, which was the establis ...

descent, he was the son of the 9th Earl of Cavan and Mary Sneade Lambart (''née'' Olive). He was educated at Eton College,

Christ Church, Oxford Christ Church ( la, Ædes Christi, the temple or house, '' ædēs'', of Christ, and thus sometimes known as "The House") is a constituent college of the University of Oxford in England. Founded in 1546 by King Henry VIII, the college is uniqu ...

, and the Royal Military College, Sandhurst; Lambart was commissioned into the Grenadier Guards on 29 August 1885. He gained the courtesy title of Viscount Kilcoursie in 1887 when his father succeeded to the Earldom and was appointed Aide-de-Camp to the Governor General of Canada in 1891.Heathcote, Anthony pg 197 He was promoted to

captain Captain is a title, an appellative for the commanding officer of a military unit; the supreme leader of a navy ship, merchant ship, aeroplane, spacecraft, or other vessel; or the commander of a port, fire or police department, election precinct, e ...

on 16 October 1897, after he had been appointed regimental adjutant on 25 August 1897, a position he held until 17 March 1900. By then, the Grenadier Guards were involved in the Second Boer War in South Africa. He saw action as a company commander in the Battle of Biddulphsberg in May 1900, and, having succeeded to his father's titles on 14 July 1900, took part in operations against the Boers in 1901 and was

mentioned in despatches To be mentioned in dispatches (or despatches, MiD) describes a member of the armed forces whose name appears in an official report written by a superior officer and sent to the high command, in which their gallant or meritorious action in the face ...

. Following the end of the war in June 1902, he left Cape Town on the SS ''Sicilia'' and returned to Southampton in late July. After promotion to

major Major (commandant in certain jurisdictions) is a military rank of commissioned officer status, with corresponding ranks existing in many military forces throughout the world. When used unhyphenated and in conjunction with no other indicators ...

on 28 October 1902, he became second-in-command of 2nd Battalion Grenadier Guards in July 1905.Heathcote, Anthony pg 198 He was promoted again to

lieutenant colonel Lieutenant colonel ( , ) is a rank of commissioned officers in the armies, most marine forces and some air forces of the world, above a major and below a colonel. Several police forces in the United States use the rank of lieutenant colone ...

and appointed

Commanding Officer The commanding officer (CO) or sometimes, if the incumbent is a general officer, commanding general (CG), is the officer in command of a military unit. The commanding officer has ultimate authority over the unit, and is usually given wide latitu ...

of 2nd Battalion Grenadier Guards on 14 February 1908. Appointed a Member of the Royal Victorian Order Fourth Class on 29 June 1910 and promoted to colonel on 4 October 1911, he retired from the British Army on 8 November 1913 and became Master of Foxhounds for the Hertfordshire Hunt. At that time he lived at Wheathampstead House in Wheathampstead.

First World War

He was recalled at the start of the First World War and was appointed commanding officer of the

4th (Guards) Brigade The 4th Infantry Brigade was an infantry brigade of the British Army that served in both First and Second World Wars. During both world wars, it was part of the 2nd Infantry Division. History As the Second Boer War ended in 1902 the army was re ...

on 11 August 1914 and went on to lead the Brigade at the First Battle of Ypres in October 1914. Appointed a

Companion of the Order of the Bath Companion may refer to: Relationships Currently * Any of several interpersonal relationships such as friend or acquaintance * A domestic partner, akin to a spouse * Sober companion, an addiction treatment coach * Companion (caregiving), a caregive ...

on 18 February 1915, he also led the Brigade at the Battle of Festubert in May 1915. Cavan was promoted to major general and given command of the

50th (Northumbrian) Division The Northumbrian Division was an infantry division of the British Army, formed in 1908 as part of the Territorial Force with units drawn from the north-east of England, notably Northumberland, Durham and the North and East Ridings of Yorkshire ...

on 29 June 1915; a mere two months later he was appointed the first commander of the

Guards Division The Guards Division is an administrative unit of the British Army responsible for the training and administration of the regiments of Foot Guards and the London Guards reserve battalion. The Guards Division is responsible for providing two b ...

and, having been appointed Commander of the French Legion of Honour on 10 September 1915, he led his Division at the Battle of Loos later that month. He was elected a

representative peer In the United Kingdom, representative peers were those peers elected by the members of the Peerage of Scotland and the Peerage of Ireland to sit in the British House of Lords. Until 1999, all members of the Peerage of England held the right to ...

from Ireland on 24 September 1915 and as such was one of the last to be so elected before the creation of the Irish Free State. In his role as Commander of the Guards Division he informed Major

Winston Churchill Sir Winston Leonard Spencer Churchill (30 November 187424 January 1965) was a British statesman, soldier, and writer who served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom twice, from 1940 to 1945 Winston Churchill in the Second World War, dur ...

of the latter's attachment to the 2nd Battalion of the Grenadiers in November 1915. The following January 1916, Cavan was placed at the head of

and took part in the

Battle of the Somme The Battle of the Somme ( French: Bataille de la Somme), also known as the Somme offensive, was a battle of the First World War fought by the armies of the British Empire and French Third Republic against the German Empire. It took place bet ...

that Summer. He was made a Grand Officer of the Belgian Order of the Crown on 2 November 1916 and appointed a Knight of the Order of St Patrick on 18 November 1916. Chateauwood

Promoted to lieutenant general on 1 January 1917, he led his Corps at the

Battle of Passchendaele The Third Battle of Ypres (german: link=no, Dritte Flandernschlacht; french: link=no, Troisième Bataille des Flandres; nl, Derde Slag om Ieper), also known as the Battle of Passchendaele (), was a campaign of the First World War, fought by t ...

in Summer 1917. He was awarded the rank of Grand Officer of the Legion of Honour on 25 September 1917 and was redeployed with his Corps to Italy in October 1917. Advanced to Knight Commander of the Order of the Bath on 1 January 1918, Cavan was appointed Commander-in-Chief of the British Forces in Italy on 10 March 1918. After reverses on the Western Front in March and April 1918, Prime Minister

Lloyd George David Lloyd George, 1st Earl Lloyd-George of Dwyfor, (17 January 1863 – 26 March 1945) was Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 1916 to 1922. He was a Liberal Party (United Kingdom), Liberal Party politician from Wales, known for lea ...

and the War Cabinet had been keen to remove Field Marshal

Sir Douglas Haig Field Marshal Douglas Haig, 1st Earl Haig, (; 19 June 1861 – 29 January 1928) was a senior officer of the British Army. During the First World War, he commanded the British Expeditionary Force (BEF) on the Western Front from late 1915 until ...

as Commander-in-Chief 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 Secretary Maurice 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. Haig's victory at Amiens in August secured his position. On the Italian Front Cavan led the Tenth Army which struck a decisive blow at the Battle of Vittorio Veneto, the action that sounded the final death knell of the Austro-Hungarian Army towards the close of the war. Following the end of the war the King of Italy awarded him the War Cross for Military Valor and made him a Commander, and subsequently a Grand Officer, of the Military Order of Savoy as well as appointing him a Grand Officer of the

Order of St Maurice and St Lazarus The Order of Saints Maurice and Lazarus ( it, Ordine dei Santi Maurizio e Lazzaro) (abbreviated OSSML) is a Roman Catholic dynastic order of knighthood bestowed by the royal House of Savoy. It is the second-oldest order of knighthood in the w ...

. Cavan was also appointed a Knight Grand Cross of the Order of St Michael and St George for his contribution to operations in Italy, awarded the American Distinguished Service Medal and appointed to the Chinese Order of Wen-Hu (1st Class).

Postwar

His first appointment after the war was when he became lieutenant of the Tower of London on 22 March 1920. Appointed Aide-de-Camp General to

the King In the British English-speaking world, The King refers to: * Charles III (born 1948), King of the United Kingdom and other Commonwealth realms since 2022 As a nickname * Michael Jackson (1958–2009), American singer and pop icon, nicknamed "T ...

on 1 October 1920, he became General Officer Commanding at

Aldershot Command Aldershot () is a town in Hampshire, England. It lies on heathland in the extreme northeast corner of the county, southwest of London. The area is administered by Rushmoor Borough Council. The town has a population of 37,131, while the Alders ...

on 2 November 1920 before being promoted to general on 2 November 1921. He was appointed Chief of the Imperial General Staff on 19 February 1922. He may have been chosen as a steady man, the antithesis of his predecessor

Henry Wilson Henry Wilson (born Jeremiah Jones Colbath; February 16, 1812 – November 22, 1875) was an American politician who was the 18th vice president of the United States from 1873 until his death in 1875 and a senator from Massachusetts from 1855 to ...

, 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. CIGS Cavan advised the Government on the implementation of the Geddes report, which advocated a large reduction in defence expenditure, and he officiated over a major reduction in the size of the British Army. Earl Cavan made a famous speech at the 'Royal Academy Banquet' to his equals in government and fellow peers and royalty. Advanced to

Knight Grand Cross of the Order of the Bath The Most Honourable Order of the Bath is a British order of chivalry founded by George I on 18 May 1725. The name derives from the elaborate medieval ceremony for appointing a knight, which involved bathing (as a symbol of purification) as one ...

in the New Year Honours 1926, he retired on 19 February 1926. He was also colonel of the Irish Guards from 23 May 1925 and colonel of the Bedfordshire and Hertfordshire Regiment from 10 December 1928. In May 1927, he accompanied the Duke and

Duchess of York Duchess of York is the principal Courtesy titles in the United Kingdom, courtesy title held by the wife of the duke of York. Three of the eleven dukes of York either did not marry or had already assumed the throne prior to marriage, whilst two of ...

to Australia to open the

Provisional Parliament House Parliament House, also referred to as Capital Hill or simply Parliament, is the meeting place of the Parliament of Australia, and the seat of the legislative branch of the Australian Government. Located in Canberra, the Parliament building is ...

at Canberra, for which he was appointed a Knight Grand Cross of the Civil Division of the Order of the British Empire on 8 July 1927. He became Captain of the Honourable Corps of Gentlemen-at-Arms on 23 July 1929 and was promoted to

field marshal Field marshal (or field-marshal, abbreviated as FM) is the most senior military rank, ordinarily senior to the general officer ranks. Usually, it is the highest rank in an army and as such few persons are appointed to it. It is considered as ...

on 31 October 1932. He also took part in the procession for the funeral of King George V in January 1936 and commanded the troops at the procession for the coronation of

King George VI George VI (Albert Frederick Arthur George; 14 December 1895 – 6 February 1952) was King of the United Kingdom and the Dominions of the British Commonwealth from 11 December 1936 until his death in 1952. He was also the last Emperor of Ind ...

on 12 May 1937. During the Second World War he served as Commanding Officer of the Hertfordshire

Local Defence Volunteers The Home Guard (initially Local Defence Volunteers or LDV) was an armed citizen militia supporting the British Army during the Second World War. Operational from 1940 to 1944, the Home Guard had 1.5 million local volunteers otherwise ineligible f ...

. He died at the London Clinic in Devonshire Place in London on 28 August 1946. He was buried in the family plot at the churchyard in

Ayot St Lawrence Ayot St Lawrence is a small English village and civil parish in Hertfordshire, west of Welwyn. There are several other ''Ayots'' in the area, including Ayot Green and Ayot St Peter, where the census population of Ayot St Lawrence was included in ...

, where a seven-foot-tall red granite cross is his headstone. His is the churchyard's only burial registered as

Commonwealth war grave The Commonwealth War Graves Commission (CWGC) is an intergovernmental organisation of six independent member states whose principal function is to mark, record and maintain the graves and places of commemoration of Commonwealth of Nations mi ...

.CWGC Cemetery Report
/ref>CWGC Casualty Report
/ref>

Marriage and family

He married on 1 August 1893 to Caroline Inez Crawley (1870–1920), daughter of

George Baden Crawley George Baden Crawley (1833–1879) was a successful railway contractor responsible for the construction of railways in Belgium, Spain, Mexico, Georgia, Romania and Hungary. Early life Crawley was born on the 4th September 1833 in Upper Gower Str ...

and Eliza Inez Hulbert, at Digswell Church in

Digswell Digswell is an ancient village and former parish in the English county of Hertfordshire which is recorded in the 1086 Domesday Book. The population of the urban area of Digswell in the 2011 Census was 1,632. Digswell's name may be derived from ...

Hertfordshire Hertfordshire ( or ; often abbreviated Herts) is one of the home counties in southern England. It borders Bedfordshire and Cambridgeshire to the north, Essex to the east, Greater London to the south, and Buckinghamshire to the west. For govern ...

.Mosley, p. 723 She predeceased her husband; they had no children. He married, secondly, on 27 November 1922 to Lady Hester Joan Byng, daughter of Reverend Francis Byng, 5th Earl of Strafford and Emily Georgina Kerr, at St. Mark's Church in North Audley Street,

Mayfair Mayfair is an affluent area in the West End of London towards the eastern edge of Hyde Park, in the City of Westminster, between Oxford Street, Regent Street, Piccadilly and Park Lane. It is one of the most expensive districts in the world. ...

, London. His second wife was the niece of his army colleague Field Marshal Byng, who was a younger half-brother of the 5th Earl of Strafford. Hester, Countess of Cavan, would, in 1927, be appointed a

Dame Commander of the Order of the British Empire The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire is a British order of chivalry, rewarding contributions to the arts and sciences, work with charitable and welfare organisations, and public service outside the civil service. It was established o ...

. The couple had two daughters: *Lady Elizabeth Mary Lambart (16 October 1924 – 8 December 2016), married in 1949 to Mark Frederic Kerr Longman, President of the Longman Group Ltd, had issue. She was in 1947 one of the eight bridesmaids in Princess Elizabeth's marriage to Lieutenant Philip Mountbatten. Her granddaughter is

Rose Cholmondeley, Marchioness of Cholmondeley Sarah Rose Cholmondeley, Marchioness of Cholmondeley (''née'' Hanbury; born 15 March 1984), commonly known as Rose Hanbury, is a British peeress, former model and former political staffer. She is married to David Cholmondeley, 7th Marquess of C ...

. *Lady Joanna Lambart As he had no son, the 10th Earl was succeeded by his brother,

Horace Quintus Horatius Flaccus (; 8 December 65 – 27 November 8 BC), known in the English-speaking world as Horace (), was the leading Roman lyric poet during the time of Augustus (also known as Octavian). The rhetorician Quintilian regarded his ' ...

References

External links

The Papers of Field Marshal Lord Cavan
held at Churchill Archives Centre
Frederick Lambart, 10th Earl of Cavan (1865–1946), Field Marshal
(National Portrait Gallery, 16 portraits) , - , - {{DEFAULTSORT:Lambart, Rudolph, 10th Earl of Cavan 1865 births 1946 deaths People from Ayot St Lawrence Burials at Ayot St Lawrence Military personnel from London People educated at Eton College Graduates of the Royal Military College, Sandhurst Alumni of Christ Church, Oxford Deputy Lieutenants of Hertfordshire Irish representative peers Knights of St Patrick Grand Croix of the Légion d'honneur Knights Grand Cross of the Order of the British Empire Knights Grand Cross of the Order of the Bath Knights Grand Cross of the Order of St Michael and St George Knights Grand Cross of the Royal Victorian Order Knights Grand Cross of the Order of Saints Maurice and Lazarus Masters of foxhounds in England Recipients of the Order of the Cross of Liberty Foreign recipients of the Distinguished Service Medal (United States) Recipients of the Croix de Guerre (France) Grand Officers of the Military Order of Savoy British Army personnel of the Second Boer War British Army generals of World War I Italian front (World War I) British field marshals Chiefs of the Imperial General Staff Grenadier Guards officers Honourable Corps of Gentlemen at Arms Earls of Cavan Recipients of the Distinguished Service Medal (US Army) Military personnel from Hertfordshire