Major General

Major General

Major general or major-general is a military rank used in many countries. It is derived from the older rank of sergeant major general. A major general is a high-ranking officer, normally subordinate to the rank of lieutenant general and senior to the ranks of brigadier and brigadier general...

 Robert George Kekewich CB

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 mediæval ceremony for creating a knight, which involved bathing as one of its elements. The knights so created were known as Knights of the Bath...

 (17 June 1854 - 5 November 1914) was a Victorian era

Victorian era

The Victorian era of British history was the period of Queen Victoria's reign from 20 June 1837 until her death on 22 January 1901. It was a long period of peace, prosperity, refined sensibilities and national self-confidence...

 British Army officer.

Kekewich was the second son of Trehawke Kekewich, of Peamore House, near Exeter

Exeter

Exeter is a historic city in Devon, England. It lies within the ceremonial county of Devon, of which it is the county town as well as the home of Devon County Council. Currently the administrative area has the status of a non-metropolitan district, and is therefore under the administration of the...

, Devon

Devon

Devon is a large county in southwestern England. The county is sometimes referred to as Devonshire, although the term is rarely used inside the county itself as the county has never been officially "shired", it often indicates a traditional or historical context.The county shares borders with...

, and the grandson of Samuel Trehawke Kekewich

Samuel Trehawke Kekewich

Samuel Trehawke Kekewich was an English Tory and later Conservative Party politician who sat in the House of Commons from 1826 to 1830 and from 1858 to 1873....

. He was also the brother of Sir Trehawke Herbert Kekewich, 1st Baronet and the nephew of the judge Sir Arthur Kekewich

Arthur Kekewich

Sir Arthur Kekewich was a British Chancery Division judge.He was the second son of Samuel Trehawke Kekewich....

.

He was educated at Marlborough

Marlborough College

Marlborough College is a British co-educational independent school for day and boarding pupils, located in Marlborough, Wiltshire.Founded in 1843 for the education of the sons of Church of England clergy, the school now accepts both boys and girls of all beliefs. Currently there are just over 800...

, he entered the army through the militia in 1874

Kekewich joined the Buffs on the 2nd December 1874. He fought in the Perak War

Perak War

The Perak War took place between British and local forces in Perak, a state in northwestern Malaysia. The sultan of Upper Perak and other local chiefs attempted to end foreign influence in the region and remove the British administrator James W.W. Birch...

 of 1875-6, and in the Sudan

Mahdist War

The Mahdist War was a colonial war of the late 19th century. It was fought between the Mahdist Sudanese and the Egyptian and later British forces. It has also been called the Anglo-Sudan War or the Sudanese Mahdist Revolt. The British have called their part in the conflict the Sudan Campaign...

, 1884-5, where he gained a brevet majority. He was employed as D.A.A.G. in the Sudan campaign of 1888, and afterwards as military secretary to the Commander-in-Chief, Madras, and was engaged in the operations in Burma

Third Anglo-Burmese War

The Third Anglo-Burmese War was a conflict that took place during 7–29 November 1885, with sporadic resistance and insurgency continuing into 1887. It was the final of three wars fought in the 19th century between the Burmese and the British...

, 1892-3.

He was promoted into the Loyal Regiment (North Lancashire)

Loyal Regiment (North Lancashire)

The Loyal Regiment was an infantry regiment of the line in the British Army from 1881 to 1970...

 and commanded the 1st Battalion of that regiment in the Second Boer War

Second Boer War

The Second Boer War was fought from 11 October 1899 until 31 May 1902 between the British Empire and the Afrikaans-speaking Dutch settlers of two independent Boer republics, the South African Republic and the Orange Free State...

. He commanded the garrison during the successful defence of Kimberley

Siege of Kimberley

The Siege of Kimberley took place during the Second Boer War at Kimberley, Cape Colony , when Boer forces from the Orange Free State and the Transvaal besieged the diamond mining town. The Boers moved quickly to try to capture the British enclave when war broke out between the British and the two...

, during which time he came into conflict with Cecil Rhodes. He received the rank of brevet-colonel and a Companion of the Order of the Bath. In August 1902 he was specially promoted major general after winning the Battle of Rooiwal

Battle of Rooiwal

The Battle of Rooiwal was an engagement of the Second Boer War. It took place on 11 April 1902 and resulted in a victory by a British force commanded by Colonel Robert Kekewich over a Boer commando led by Generals Ferdinandus Jacobus Potgieter and Jan Kemp....

 in April of that year. He was appointed colonel of the Buffs on the 5th October 1909.

On the outbreak of war in 1914 he was appointed to the 13th (Western) Division, which he commanded until his suicide on 5 November of that year.

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