Dictionary of Indian Biography/Roberts, of Kandahar, Pretoria, and Waterford, Frederick Sleigh, first Earl
ROBERTS, OF KANDAHAR, PRETORIA, AND WATERFORD, FREDERICK SLEIGH, FIRST EARL (1832–)
Field Marshal: son of General Sir Abraham Roberts, G.C.B. (q.v.): born at Cawnpur, Sep. 30, 1832: educated at Eton, Sandhurst, Addiscombe: joined the Bengal Artillery, in April, 1852: A.D.C. to his father, 1852: D.A.Q.M.G. Peshawar, 1856: in the mutiny he was Staff Officer to Sir N. Chamberlain and John Nicholson, successively commanding the movable column to Delhi: where, during the siege, he, as D.A.Q.M.G. rejoined the Artillery. After its fall, he was in the actions at Bulandshahr, Alighar, Agra, at Sir Colin Campbell's relief of Lucknow, the recapture of Cawnpur, the destruction of Bithur, in. the fight near Khudaganj, where he won the V.C. for personal bravery in recovering a standard: in the capture of Lucknow by Sir Colin Campbell, in March, 1858: served in the Umbeyla campaign, 1863: in the Abyssinian campaign, 1867–8, was A.Q.M.G.: carried home Lord Napier's final despatches: was senior Staff Officer on the Lushai expedition, 1871–2: C.B.: Q.M.G. in 1874: commanded the Panjab Frontier Force, 1878. When the 2nd Afghan war broke out, he commanded the Kuram Field Force, fought the Peiwar Kotal action on Dec. 2, 1878: halted at Alikheyl: was a member of Sir A. Eden's Army Commission, 1879: K.C.B., 1879. After Sir L. Cavagnari's death at Kabul, on Sep. 3, 1879, he commanded the Kabul Field Force, fought the action at Charasia on Oct. 6, reached Kabul on Oct. 9. He received Yakub Khan's abdication and despatched him to India: was engaged in the operations in and around Sherpur in Dec. 1879. After the defeat of General Burrows at Maiwand, on July 27, 1880, Roberts marched from Kabul to Kandahar, Aug. 9 to 31, over 313 miles in 22 days, and defeated Ayub Khan at Kandahar on Sep. I: Baronet: G.C.B. After Majuba Hill, in 1881, he was sent to South Africa as Commander of the Forces and Governor of Natal, but peace had been concluded before he arrived. He was C. in C. Madras, 1881–5: C. in C. India, 1885–93: commanded in Burma in 1886: General in 1890: Baron in 1892: C. in C. Ireland, 1895–9: Field Marshal, 1895: C. in C. South Africa, 1899–1901: Commander-in-Chief, 1901–4, Earl, 1901, and K.G.: he was also made G.C.S.I., G.C.I.E., K.P., P.C, D.C.L. Oxford, LL.D. of Dublin, Cambridge and Edinburgh: received the freedom of several cities: wrote Rise of Wellington, and Forty-one Years in India.