ROBERTS 



ROBERTS 



day entered Kabul. 

 In May, Sir Donald 

 Stewart, with a 

 strongrv column 

 from Kandahar, 

 arrived at Kabul 

 and took over the 

 command ; but in 

 July the British 

 force at Kandahar 

 suffered a disas- 

 trous defeat by the 

 army of Ayub 

 Khan. Roberts at 

 once offered to lead 

 a column from 

 Kabul to Kanda- 

 har. With 10,000 

 troops he set out 

 on August 9, and 

 reached Kandahar 

 on Sept. 1. Next 

 day he attacked 

 and defeated Ayub 

 Khan's army. 



After a year in 

 England, Roberts 

 was appointed 

 commander-in- 

 chief at Madras, 

 where during four 

 years of command he improved the 

 recruiting and training of the army. 

 In 1885 he became commander-in- 

 chief in India, and during the next 

 eight years reorganized the defence 

 of the North-West Frontier, 

 strengthened the army by recruit- 

 ing it from the more warlike races, 

 and raised its gunnery and musk- 

 etry instruction to a high pitch of 

 excellence. He returned home in 

 1893, and in 1895 was appointed 



Sir Frederick Roberts in 1880. From the portrait by 

 W. W. Ouless, R.A. 



commander-in-chief in Ireland. In 

 1897 he published Forty-One Years 

 in India, a record of his experience 

 and of his opinions on Indian mili- 

 tary and political questions. 



In December, 1899, Roberts was 

 offered and accepted the com- 

 mand-in-chief of the army in 

 South Africa. The whole course 

 of the war was altered by Roberts 

 at a blow. He defeated Cronje at 

 Paardeberg, and marched across 

 * the Free State 

 to Bloemfontein, 

 and afterwards 

 to Johannesburg 

 and Pretoria. By 

 the middle of Sep- 

 tember the Boer 

 army as an organ- 

 ized force had dis- 

 appeared. Roberts 

 then returned 

 home, leaving 

 Lord Kitchener in 



After 0. F. Watti. B.A.. painted in 1898. 

 .Valional Portrait Gallery, London 



In January, 

 1901, Roberts, 

 now created earl 

 and field-marshal, 

 became coniman- 

 der-in-chief of the 

 British army. 

 He insisted on 

 good shooting 

 by both artillery 

 and infantry, and 

 much unproved 

 the training of the 

 militia, the volun- 

 teers, and the 

 yeomanry. But in 



February, 1904, the government of 

 A. J. Balfour abolished the office 

 of commander-in-chief, and Lord 

 Roberts was retired. Shortly after- 

 Awards he became president of the 

 National Service League. To this 

 cause Roberts devoted himself 

 during the next ten years, warning 

 his countrymen of the struggle in 

 which they were likely to become 

 involved. When it began in 1914, 

 he was anxious by his presence to 

 encourage the troops of the Indian 

 contingent in France. On Nov. 11 

 he crossed to Boulogne, and spent 

 the next two days visiting the head- 

 quarters of the Indian regiments. 

 During this short tour he caught a 

 chill, which on Nov. 14 proved 

 fatal. On Nov. 19 he was buried 

 in S. Paul's Cathedral. He left only 

 two daughters, the elder, Aileen, 

 becoming Countess Roberts by a 

 special remainder. His only son, 

 Frederick Hugh S. Roberts, a 

 lieutenant in the artillery was 

 mortally wounded at the battle of 

 Colenso, Dec. 15, 1899, during an 

 attempt to save some guns. Post- 

 humously he was awarded the V.C. 



Roberts had a short, well-knit 

 figure, and a piercing eye ; he was a 

 perfect rider, and had few superiors 

 in handling the lance. His courage 

 and coolness in danger were cou- 

 pled with an intuitive power of 

 divining the effect of his own moves 

 on the enemy. 



Bibliography. Forty-one years in 

 India, 1897 ; Speeches and Letters 

 on Imperial Defence, 1906 ; Kururo, 

 Kabul, Kandahar: Three Cam- 

 paigns Under Roberts, C. G. 

 Robertson, 1881 ; Lives, C. R. Low, 

 1883 ; W. Jerrold, 1900 ; H. G. 

 Groser, 2nd ed. 1900 ; W. E. Cairns, 

 1902; Sir G.Forrest, 1914; In Good 

 Company, C. Kernahan, 1917. 



Roberts, ARTHtrR (b. 1852). 

 British comedian. Born Sept. 21, 

 1852, he made his first appearance 

 as a mimic and 

 vocal come- 

 dian in 1878. 

 He was suc- 

 cessful in the 

 variety halls, 

 until he trans- 

 ferred to the 

 theatrical 

 stage in 1883, 

 establishing a 

 reputation 

 in musical 

 comedy and comic opera. He 

 returned to the music hall stage in 

 1904. He wrote The Adventures 

 of Arthur Roberts, 1895. 



Roberts, CHAKLES GEORGE 

 DOUGLAS (b. 1860). Canadian 

 author. Born near Fredericton, 

 New Brunswick, Jan. 10, 1860, 

 he was educated at the univer- 

 sity of New Brunswick, where he 



Arthur Roberts, 

 British comedian 



Claude Barrii 



