Frederick Roberts (1832-1914), British military commander, who distinguished himself in the second Afghan and Boer wars. In 1878 Roberts, a major general in the British army, commanded one of the three divisions that invaded Afghanistan from India. He took Kabul, the capital, in 1879 and the following year led a march through difficult mountain country to the relief of British troops besieged in Kandahār (Qandahār), where he defeated the Afghan army in a decisive battle that put an end to the war. He was promoted to the rank of field marshal in 1895, and soon after the outbreak of the South African War in 1899 he was appointed supreme commander of the British forces in South Africa. By December 1900, he defeated the Boer army, occupied Pretoria, and announced the annexation of the Boer republics to the British Empire. In 1901 Roberts was created an earl and appointed commander in chief of the British army. He retired in 1904.