Kitchener, Horatio Herbert (1850-1916), was a distinguished British military leader. He helped to secure the colonies of the United Kingdom across the globe.
Kitchener was born on June 24, 1850, in County Kerry, Ireland. He was educated at the Royal Military Academy at Woolwich. Early in his career, he served in Palestine, Cyprus, and Egypt.
Kitchener became governor general of Eastern Sudan in 1886 and commander of the Egyptian Army in 1892. He defeated the Sudanese, who had thrown off Egyptian rule, and reoccupied Khartoum in 1898 (see Sudan ).
Kitchener went to South Africa in 1899 as second in command to Lord Roberts in the Anglo-Boer War of 1899-1902. When Roberts returned to England, Kitchener became commander of the South African army. After difficult guerrilla warfare, he ended the war successfully (see Anglo-Boer Wars ). Kitchener served as commander in chief of the British Army in India from 1902 to 1909. From 1911 to 1914, Kitchener served as head of the British administration in Egypt, and in June 1914 he was made Earl of Khartoum and of Broome.
In 1914, at the beginning of World War I, Kitchener was appointed secretary of state for war. As one of the few who expected a long war, he raised a large British army, which proved important to the eventual success of the Allies. Kitchener died on June 5, 1916, when a ship on which he was a traveling to Russia hit a mine.
