This cartoon depicts Lord Roberts, a prestigious military officer from Great Britain who served all around the world, most heavily in India. Lord Roberts was greatly respected by his colleagues, and he was admired by the common people of Britain. He was also one of the few military officers who warned of the impending war with Germany -- World War I -- as early as 1908. In this cartoon, Lord Roberts is identified by his nickname, "Bobs" on the front of his uniform. This cartoon shows Lord Roberts being led away by death. Death himself has his head hanging while carrying what is assumed to be Lord Roberts' sword. This is a portrayal of his death when visiting Indian soldiers fighting at the front at St. Olmer’s in France during World War I. Lord Roberts contracted pneumonia and died shortly after contracting the disease. John McCutcheon personally knew Lord Roberts and described him as "as an alert and spry little man with ruddy cheeks, courteous and deferential to the degree of courtier, energetic in his manners and conversation, and with a character as beautiful and lovable as some ancient hero drawn with the pen of an idealist." This cartoon depicts one of the millions of lives lost in World War I. (Summary created by Mary Delano, MU History Intern, Spring 2018)
Published in the Chicago Tribune in 1915.
"157" -- Handwritten on verso.
Pencil and ink on board.
Original in University of Missouri Special Collections, John Tinney McCutcheon Collection.
Digitized on September 2017. Equipment: Indus Color Book Scanner. Scanning software: bcs-2 version 3.4.9. Image specifications: 400 dpi, color. Access copies: tiffs with LZW compression, rotated and cropped.
Title from caption.
Summary Citations:
Quote for John McCutcheon from:
"Little bobs" receiving an ovation after leaving the war office. (1914, Nov 15). Chicago Daily Tribune (1872-1922) Retrieved from https://search.proquest.com/docview/173873455
