of the most senior officers at Horse Guards during a period of fundamental restructuring and reorganization, and a Gold Stick. He became chairman of the Territorial Force Association for the City of London at the start of 1908. As a qualified barrister since 1874, he had become Honorary Colonel of the 14th Middlesex (Inns of Court) Rifle Volunteer Corps in November 1899 and supported its incorporation as an officer training unit in the new Territorial Force in 1908. On 11 March 1911 he was appointed Constable of the Tower of London. He was a governor of Gresham's School from 1899 to 1919. On 17 June 1913 a year before the outbreak of war, King George V reviewed the Household Cavalry in Windsor Great Park. "With a bevy of princes and famous soldiers" accompanying the King, he inspected "a blue body [the Blues in the centre] with red wings flecked with gold [Life Guards on either flank] and lit up by the twinkling of the sun on many breastplates...[Sir Evelyn Wood, leading the Blues, had] paid unusual attention to his personal appearance." Beginning as a courageous young officer and later a successful commander in colonial wars, Evelyn Wood understood the importance of progress and modern technology and lived long enough to see cavalry become almost obsolete. Unlike the brigade commander he was proud to see his regiment operating new weapons: "You can picture my pleasant thoughts when I contrast the spirit of the BLUES turning up to the duties of Machine Gunners, and the false swagger of the men... in a Light Dragoon Regiment" he wrote. In January 1914 he resigned as Chairman of the County Territorial Association in order to express his support for Field Marshal Roberts' campaign for conscription. In his final years he wrote Our Fighting Services (1916) and Winnowed Memories (1917) which one historian described as "stuffed with adulatory letters he had received, extracts of speeches he had given and anecdotes in which his wisdom or cleverness figured". Wood died of heart failure in 1919 at the age of 81. His body was buried with full military honours at the Aldershot Military Cemetery in the county of Hampshire. His Victoria Cross is displayed at the National Army Museum in Chelsea, London. A public house known as the "Sir Evelyn Wood" is located in Widford Road in Chelmsford. His will was valued for probate at £11,196 4s 10d.