Commander-in-Chief of the Forces

Commander-in-Chief of the Forces
Longest serving
FM Prince George, Duke of Cambridge

5 July 1856 – 1 November 1895
English Army
British Army
War Office
TypeSenior-most officer
AbbreviationC-in-C
Reports toSecretary of State for War
AppointerThe Monarch
Term lengthNo fixed term
Formation1645
January 1793
First holderCaptain General Sir Thomas Fairfax
as General-in-Chief
FM Jeffery Amherst, 1st Lord Amherst
as Commander-in-Chief of the Forces
Final holderFM Frederick Roberts, 1st Earl Roberts
Abolished12 February 1904
SuccessionChief of the General Staff

The Commander-in-Chief of the Forces, later Commander-in-Chief, British Army, or just the Commander-in-Chief (C-in-C), was (intermittently) the professional head of the English Army from 1660 to 1707 (the English Army, founded in 1645, was succeeded in 1707 by the new British Army, incorporating existing Scottish regiments) and of the British Army from 1707 until 1904. In 1904 the office was replaced with the creation of the Army Council and the appointment of Chief of the General Staff.