# Trevor Chute

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{{Short description|British Army general (1816-1886)}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=September 2020}}
{{Infobox military person
| honorific_prefix   = [General](/source/General_(United_Kingdom))
| name               = Sir Trevor Chute
| honorific_suffix   = {{post-nominals|country=GBR|size=100%|KCB}}
| image              = General-Chute-KCB full MA I173925 TePapa.jpg
| caption            = General Chute, c. 1860
| birth_date         = 31 July 1816
| death_date         = 12 March 1886 (aged 69)
| burial_label       = 
| burial_place       = 
| birth_place        = 
| death_place        = 
| burial_coordinates = <!-- {{coord|LAT|LONG|display=inline,title}} -->
| nickname           = ''The Kerry Bull''
| allegiance         = {{flagicon|United Kingdom}} [United Kingdom](/source/United_Kingdom)
| branch             = 23px [British Army](/source/British_Army)
| branch_label       = Branch
| service_years      = 1832–1881
| rank               = [General](/source/General_(United_Kingdom))
| unit               = 
| commands           = 
| battles            = 
{{Tree list}}
*[Indian Mutiny](/source/Indian_Mutiny)
*[New Zealand Wars](/source/New_Zealand_Wars)
**[Second Taranaki War](/source/Second_Taranaki_War)
{{Tree list/end}}
| awards             = [Knight Commander of the Order of the Bath](/source/Knight_Commander_of_the_Order_of_the_Bath)
| relations          = 
| other_work         = 
}}
[General](/source/General_(United_Kingdom)) '''Sir Trevor Chute''', {{post-nominals|country=GBR|size=100%|KCB}} (31 July 1816 – 12 March 1886) was an [Anglo-Irish](/source/Anglo-Irish) officer who served in the [British Army](/source/British_Army) during the [Victorian era](/source/Victorian_era).

Born in [County Kerry](/source/County_Kerry), Ireland, Chute joined the British Army in 1832. Posted to [British India](/source/British_India) with the [70th Regiment](/source/70th_(Surrey)_Regiment_of_Foot), he helped deal with the [Indian Mutiny](/source/Indian_Mutiny) of 1854. Sent to the [Antipodes](/source/Antipodes), he served in the [New Zealand Wars](/source/New_Zealand_Wars) and later in Australia. He returned to New Zealand in 1865 as a [major general](/source/major_general) and commander of all British forces in the country. He led a [four-week campaign](/source/Second_Taranaki_War) during the [Second Taranaki War](/source/Second_Taranaki_War) to destroy Maori resistance in the [Taranaki](/source/Taranaki). The campaign was the last to be carried out in New Zealand by [imperial](/source/British_Empire) [troops](/source/troops). At the end of his service in New Zealand, he went back to Australia. Knighted in 1867, he returned to England in 1870 with the last of the Imperial forces garrisoning Australia. Promoted to [General](/source/General_(United_Kingdom)) in 1877, he retired from the British Army four years later. He died in 1886 at [Berkshire](/source/Berkshire) in England.

==Early life==
Trevor Chute, born at [Tralee](/source/Tralee) in [County Kerry](/source/County_Kerry), Ireland, on 31 July 1816, was the third son of Francis Chute and Mary Ann Chute (née Bomford).<ref name=McConville>{{cite book |last1=McConville |first1=Chris |chapter=Chute, Sir Trevor (1816–1886) |chapter-url=https://adb.anu.edu.au/biography/chute-sir-trevor-3208 |title=Australian Dictionary of Biography |publisher=National Centre of Biography, Australian National University |access-date=13 November 2017}}</ref> He entered the [British Army](/source/British_Army) in 1832 and was posted to the [Ceylon Rifles](/source/Ceylon_Rifle_Regiment). His overall robust appearance and powerful voice earned him the nickname "The Kerry Bull" among his soldiers. He later transferred to the [70th Regiment](/source/70th_(Surrey)_Regiment_of_Foot). By 1847 he had attained the rank of [major](/source/Major_(rank)), performing duties in Ireland in 1848 before being transferred with the regiment to India in 1849.<ref name=Green>{{DNZB|Green|David|1C17|Chute, Trevor|13 March 2015}}</ref>

==India==
In India, the regiment was based at [Peshawar](/source/Peshawar) with Chute, having been promoted to [lieutenant colonel](/source/lieutenant_colonel), as its commander. He received a further promotion to [colonel](/source/colonel) in 1854.<ref name=Green/> During the [Indian Mutiny](/source/Indian_Rebellion_of_1857) of 1857, he led the rescue of trapped officers in Peshawar and dispersed the mutineers there. Moving to [Lucknow](/source/Lucknow), he organized the formation of [flying column](/source/flying_column)s to suppress the mutiny elsewhere in the country.<ref name=McLean>{{cite web|last1=Wards|first1=Ian McLean|title=Chute, General Sir Trevor, K.C.B.|url=https://teara.govt.nz/en/1966/chute-general-sir-trevor-kcb|website=An Encyclopedia of New Zealand 1966|access-date=13 November 2017}}</ref>

==New Zealand & Australia==
In 1861, the 70th Regiment was posted to New Zealand. Arriving in the country in May 1861, Chute and his regiment was involved in the construction of the [Great South Road](/source/Great_South_Road%2C_New_Zealand), which extended from [Drury](/source/Drury%2C_New_Zealand) to the [Waikato River](/source/Waikato_River). During his service at this time, he was the president of the court of inquiry established to review the conduct of the 'battle' of [Waireka](/source/Waireka). In March 1863 Chute was promoted to [brigadier-general](/source/brigadier-general) and posted to Australia where he had been appointed commander of British troops stationed there.<ref name=Green/>

Chute returned to New Zealand as a [major-general](/source/Major-general_(United_Kingdom)) in September 1865, replacing [General](/source/General) [Duncan Cameron](/source/Duncan_Alexander_Cameron) as commander of the British forces in the country. Chute also continued his role as commander of British forces in Australia.<ref name=Green/> His arrival in New Zealand coincided with the [Second Taranaki War](/source/Second_Taranaki_War). There were high tensions between colonists and [Māori](/source/M%C4%81ori_people) of [Taranaki](/source/Taranaki_Region) due to [Governor](/source/Governor) [George Grey](/source/George_Grey)'s confiscation of land in the area despite a proclamation of peace. A series of ambushes and murders mounted by Māori against British troops and colonists from mid-1865{{sfn|Cowan|1956|pp=57–59}} prompted Grey to task Chute with carrying out offensive operations against the Taranaki tribes.{{sfn|Cowan|1956|p=61}} His task was made more difficult though the gradual withdrawal of British forces as the New Zealand Government took greater responsibility for its own defence. The 70th Regiment, Chute's former command, was one of the first units to leave New Zealand.{{sfn|Cowan|1956|pp=57–59}} 
[[File:GeneralChute'sMarch1866.jpg|thumb|[Gustavus von Tempsky](/source/Gustavus_von_Tempsky)'s depiction of the January 1866 "forest march"]]
After developing a strategy for offensive operations with his primary subordinate in Taranaki, Colonel [Henry Warre](/source/Henry_Warre), Chute began his march from [Wanganui](/source/Wanganui) on 3 January 1866 with a force of 620 men.{{sfn|Cowan|1956|pp=57–59}} Sweeping across the south and centre of Taranaki, his expedition, a mixture of British soldiers, local militia and ''[kūpapa](/source/k%C5%ABpapa)'' (pro-Government Māori), destroyed several, mostly undefended, villages between the [Waitōtara River](/source/Wait%C5%8Dtara_River) and [Mount Egmont](/source/Mount_Taranaki%2FEgmont). His tactics were direct; little reconnaissance was carried out when preparing for attacks on villages and instead his force simply mounted a frontal assault, taking few prisoners. After destroying a traditional ''[pā](/source/p%C4%81)'' on 14 January, he then commenced a 9-day "forest march", a journey across the eastern base of Mount Egmont to [New Plymouth](/source/New_Plymouth%2C_New_Zealand). This march, which would have typically taken two or three days, almost resulted in disaster. He and his men became lost and exhausted their supplies. Reduced to eating their pack horses, a supply column brought relief and Chute and his men arrived in New Plymouth on 3 February 1866.{{sfn|Belich|1998|pp=207–208}}

Following Chute's expedition, further campaigning was carried out in Taranaki but without British troops,{{sfn|Belich|1998|pp=207–208}} which continued to be withdrawn from New Zealand. By 1867 Chute had moved with his headquarters to [Melbourne](/source/Melbourne%2C_Australia) in Australia. That same year he was created [Knight Commander of the Order of the Bath](/source/Knight_Commander_of_the_Order_of_the_Bath), and on 9 July 1868, he married Ellen Browning, of [Auckland](/source/Auckland). While in Australia he helped develop the local militia and oversaw the reduction of the British [garrisons](/source/garrisons) there. From late 1869 to early 1870, he was the administrator of New South Wales following the departure of Governor [Sir John Young](/source/John_Young%2C_1st_Baron_Lisgar) to Canada to become [governor general](/source/Governor_General_of_Canada) there.<ref name=McConville/>

==Later life==
In October 1870 Chute followed the last imperial troops stationed in [Victoria](/source/Victoria_(Australia)) back to England. Nearly three years later, following the death of Lieutenant General George Napier, he was appointed colonel of the [22nd Regiment](/source/22nd_(Cheshire)_Regiment).<ref>{{London Gazette|issue=23975|date=13 May 1873|page=2394}}</ref> He was made a full general in 1877<ref name=Green/> and four years later was placed on the retired list.<ref>{{London Gazette|issue=24999|date=26 July 1881|page=3674}}</ref> He died at [Binfield](/source/Binfield), near [Reading](/source/Reading%2C_Berkshire) in [Berkshire](/source/Berkshire), on 12 March 1886, aged 69.<ref name=Green/>

==Notes==
{{reflist}}

==References==
{{refbegin}}
*{{cite book|last=Belich|first=James|title=The New Zealand Wars|date=1998|publisher=Penguin|location=Auckland, New Zealand|isbn=0-14-027504-5}}
*{{cite book|last1=Cowan|first1=James|title=The New Zealand Wars: A History of the Maori Campaigns and the Pioneering Period: Volume II: The Hauhau Wars, 1864–72|date=1956|publisher=R. E. Owen|location=Wellington, New Zealand|url=http://nzetc.victoria.ac.nz/tm/scholarly/tei-Cow02NewZ.html|access-date=27 December 2017|oclc=973587516}}
{{refend}}

{{authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Chute, Trevor}}
Category:1816 births
Category:1886 deaths
Category:British military personnel of the New Zealand Wars
Category:Military leaders of the New Zealand Wars
Category:British military personnel of the Indian Rebellion of 1857
Category:British Army generals
Category:Knights Commander of the Order of the Bath
Category:People from Binfield
Category:Military personnel from County Kerry
Category:Lieutenant-governors of New South Wales

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Adapted from the Wikipedia article [Trevor Chute](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Trevor_Chute) by Wikipedia contributors ([contributor history](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Trevor_Chute?action=history)). Available under [Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/). Changes may have been made.