Henry Hildyard

HJT Hildyard in 1900

Sir Henry John Thoroton Hildyard GCB ( July 5, 1846 - July 25, 1916 in Aspley Heath , Bedfordshire ) was a British Army officer , most recently a general , who fought in the Anglo-Egyptian War of 1882 and the Second Boer War and from 1904 until 1908 was Commander in Chief in South Africa .

Life

Hildyard was the third son of the politician Thomas Blackborne Thoroton Hildyard (1821-1888), MP for South Nottinghamshire, and his wife Anne Margaret, née Rochfort, born. He was admitted to Burney's Royal Naval Academy at Gosport at a young age in preparation for a career in the Royal Navy . From 1859 to 1864 he served as a midshipman in the RN before moving to the 5th (Northumberland Fusiliers) Regiment of Foot , where he was appointed Ensign in 1867 . He later joined the 71st (Highland) Regiment of Foot (Light Infantry) , where he served for several years as a lieutenant and adjutant . He graduated from Staff College in 1877 and was promoted to captain in the Somerset Light Infantry the following year .

In 1882 he served as Brevet - Major in the Egyptian expedition against the Urabi movement and took part in several battles, including the Battle of Tel el-Kebir , which he mentioned in dispatches was. From 1883 to 1888 he served in the Egyptian army. From 1886 he was aide-de-camp for Queen Victoria . From 1893 to 1898 he served again in the mother country, including as Deputy Assistant Adjutant-General and Assistant Adjutant-General at the headquarters of the British Army and was also in command of Staff College. He then received command of the 3rd Infantry Brigade stationed in Aldershot . Since 1897 he was Companion of the Order of the Bath .

After the beginning of the Second Boer War, he was transferred to South Africa, where he commanded the 2nd Infantry Brigade within the Natal Field Force led by Redvers Buller . In this post he took part in the battles of Colenso and Spion Kop and in the relief of Ladysmith . In April 1900 Hildyard took over the 5th Division from his predecessor Charles Warren and stayed in South Africa until October of the following year and was mentioned four times in dispatches. In addition, he was made Knight Commander of the Order of the Bath and received the Queen's South Africa Medal with five clips.

Hildyard then took over the I Army Corps in Aldershot. In 1903 he was appointed Director of Military Education and Training at Army Headquarters. In March 1904 he was promoted to Lieutenant General and appointed as the successor to Neville Lyttelton, who was appointed Chief of Staff, Commander in Chief in South Africa. He retired from active service in 1911 with the rank of general and promoted to Knight Grand Cross of the Order of the Bath and died in 1916 at the age of 70.

Hildyard was regiment chief of the Highland Light Infantry from December 1903 until his death .

family

Since 1871 Hildyard was married to Annette, daughter of Admiral James Charles Prevost. With her he had two sons, Gerald Moresby Thoroton Hildyard and General Sir Reginald John Thoroton Hildyard , and a daughter, Edith Mary Thoroton Hildyard.

Web links

• Henry John Thoroton Hildyard on angloboerwar.com

Individual evidence

1. ↑ Biography of Thomas Blackborne Thoroton Hildyard (1821–1888) on nottingham.ac.uk .
2. ^ Edmund Burke: The Annual Register , Volume 158 (1917), p. 181.
3. ^ ^{A b} High Ranking Officers of the British Army 1896 on armynavyairforce.co.uk
4. ↑ HLI Colonels  ( page no longer available , search in web archives )  Info: The link was automatically marked as defective. Please check the link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. on britisharmedforces.org .  

predecessor	Office	successor
Francis Clery	Commandant of Staff College Camberley 1893–1898	Herbert Miles
Neville Lyttelton	Commander in Chief in South Africa 1904–1908	Paul Methuen, 3rd Baron Methuen