Prior to the civil war of the mid seventeenth century the organisation of the army in Britain was essentially of a feudal nature. Which is to say that the army consisted of independent units raised as needed by the kings's vassals as part of their feudal land tenure obligation, and put at his disposal on a temporary basis, together with various mercenary troops hired as and when required. Other than a few troops employed to guard the royal household and to garrison a few key royal strongholds there was no permanent standing army, and as there was no permanent army there was no requirement for a permanent commander of the army.
This changed during the English Civil War when both sides found it necessary to engage troops on a more or less permanent basis, which gave rise to the first standing armed forces on British soil since the departure of the Romans; a development that found its most successful expression in the New Model Army established by Oliver Cromwell. After the death of Cromwell and the Restoration of the Monarchy in 1660 most of these permanent forces were disbanded, there being a profound distrust of armies as such at the time.
The birth of the modern British Army can be dated either to;
- the 26th January 1661 when Charles II issued a royal decree by which means Charles II became the first English monarch to maintain a standing army in peacetime,;
- or to the year 1689 when the army was brought under parliamentary control;
although technically speaking there was no British army as such until the Act of Union 1707 created the state of Great Britain, as prior to that date there were strictly speaking not one but three entirely separate English, Scottish and Irish armies all loyal to the same monarch.
For these purposes we shall assume the validity of the earlier date and note that, now that the king had a permanent army he required a commander-in-chief to head the new creation and the obvious choice was George Monck, 1st Duke of Albemarle who had already been formally appointed the king's Captain-General on the 3rd August 1660. Since the time of George Monck various individuals have over the centuries been placed in overall command of the British land forces and are therefore accorded the status of 'Commander in Chief' of the army, although the exact title accorded varied from time to time and currently stands as the Chief of the General Staff
.
THE COMMANDERS-IN-CHIEF OF THE BRITISH ARMY
Date of
Appointment Rank Name
As General in Chief Command
3rd Aug 1660 Captain-General George Monck, 1st Duke of Albemarle
1670 Vacant
30th Mar 1674 Captain-General James Scott, 1st Duke of Monmouth
1686 Vacant
1689 Lieutenant-General Louis de Duras, 2nd Earl of Feversham
3rd Jun 1690 General John Churchill, 1st Duke of Marlborough
30th Apr 1691 General Meinhardt Schomberg, 3rd Duke of Schomberg
1691 Vacant
24th Apr 1702 General John Churchill, 1st Duke of Marlborough
1708 Vacant
1st Jan 1711 Captain-General James Butler, 2nd Duke of Ormonde
23rd Sep 1714 Vacant
1st Jan 1744 Field Marshal John Dalrymple, 2nd Earl of Stair
1745 Field Marshal George Wade
1745 Vacant
1745 Captain-General William Augustus Hanover, Duke of Cumberland
24th Oct 1757 Field Marshal John Louis Ligonier, 1st Earl Ligonier
1759 Vacant
13th Aug 1766 General John Manners, Marquess of Granby
1769 Vacant
19th Mar 1778 Field Marshal Jeffrey Amherst, 1st Baron Amherst
29th Mar 1782 Field Marshal Henry Seymour Conway
As General on the Staff
21st Jan 1793 Field Marshal Jeffrey Amherst, 1st Baron Amherst
11th Feb 1795 Field Marshal Frederick Augustus Hanover, Duke of York
As Commander in Chief
3rd Apr 1798 Field Marshal Frederick Augustus Hanover, Duke of York
25th Mar 1809 General David Dundas
29th May 1811 Field Marshal Frederick Augustus Hanover, Duke of York
6th Jan 1827 Vacant
27th Aug 1827 Field Marshal Arthur Wellesley, 1st Duke of Wellington
14th Feb 1828 Vacant
25th Feb 1828 General Rowland Hill, 1st Viscount Hill
15th Aug 1842 Field Marshal Arthur Wellesley, 1st Duke of Wellington
As Commanding in Chief
28th Dec 1852 Field Marshal Henry Hardinge, 1st Viscount Hardinge
15th Jul 1856 Field Marshal George William Hanover, Duke of Cambridge
As Commander in Chief
26th Nov 1887 Field Marshal George William Hanover, Duke of Cambridge
1st Nov 1895 Field Marshal Garnet Joseph Wolseley, 1st Viscount Wolseley
3rd Jan 1901 Field Marshal Frederick Sleigh Roberts, 1st Earl Roberts
As Chief of the General Staff
1904 General Neville Gerald Lyttleton
2nd Apr 1908 Field Marshal William Gustavus Nicholson, 1st Baron Nicholson
As Chief of the Imperial General Staff
1909 Field Marshal William Gustavus Nicholson, 1st Baron Nicholson
1912 Field Marshal John Denton Pinkstone French, 1st Earl of Ypres
6th Apr 1914 General Charles Whittingham Horsley Douglas
30th Oct 1914 Lieutenant-General James Wolfe Murray
26th Sep 1915 General Archibald James Murray
23rd Dec 1915 Field Marshal William Robert Robertson, 1st Baronet
19th Feb 1918 Field Marshal Henry Hughes Wilson, 1st Baronet
19th Feb 1922 Field Marshal Frederick Rudolph Lambart, 10th Earl of Cavan
19th Feb 1926 Field Marshal George Francis Milne, 1st Baron Milne
19th Feb 1933 Field Marshal Archibald Armar Montgomery-Massingberd
7th Apr 1936 Field Marshal Cyril John Deverell
6th Dec 1937 Field Marshal John Standish Vereker, 6th Viscount Gort
4th Sep 1939 Field Marshal William Edmund Ironside, 1st Baron Ironside
27th May 1940 Field Marshal John Greer Dill
25th Dec 1941 Field Marshal Alan Francis Brooke, 1st Viscount Alanbrooke
26th Jun 1946 Field Marshal Bernard Law Montgomery, 1st Viscount Montgomery
1st Nov 1948 Field Marshal William Joseph Slim, 1st Viscount Slim
1st Nov 1952 Field Marshal Allan Francis John Harding, 1st Baron Harding
29th Sep 1955 Field Marshal Gerald Francis Templer
29th Sep 1958 Field Marshal Francis Wogan Festing
1st Nov 1961 Field Marshal Richard Amyatt Hull
As Chief of the General Staff
Apr 1964 General Richard Amyatt Hull
8th Feb 1965 Field Marshal Charles Archibald James Halkett
1st Mar 1968 Field Marshal Geoffrey Harding Baker
1971 Field Marshal Richard Michael Power Carver, Baron Carver
22nd Oct 1973 General Peter Mervyn Hunt
1976 Field Marshal Roland Christopher Gibbs
14th Jul 1979 Field Marshal Edwin Noel Westby Bramall, Baron Bramall
1st Oct 1982 Field Marshal John Wilfrid Stanier
28th Jul 1985 Field Marshal Nigel Thomas Bagnall
1989 Field Marshal John Lyon Chapple
14th Feb 1992 Field Marshal Peter Anthony Inge, Baron Inge
14th Mar 1994 General Charles Ronald Llewellyn Guthrie, Baron Guthrie
2nd Apr 1997 General Roger Neil Wheeler
17th Apr 2000 General Michael John Dawson Walker
1st Feb 2003 General Michael David Jackson
SOURCES
- The Oxford History of the British Army (OUP, 1996)
- Chronological List of British Army Chiefs
http://www.regiments.org/biography/defchiefs/ukCinC.htm
- The History of the British Army
http://www.national-army-museum.ac.uk/