Redvers Buller
Sir Redvers Buller | |
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Awards |
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Origins
Buller was the second son and eventual heir of
The Bullers were an old Cornish family, long seated at Morval in Cornwall until their removal to Downes. The family estates, including Downes, inherited in 1874 by Redvers Buller from his unmarried elder brother James Howard Buller (1835–1874)[2] included 1,191 hectares (2,942 acres) of Devon and 880 hectares (2,174 acres) of Cornwall, which in 1876 produced an income of £14,137 a year.[3]
Early career
After education at
Zulu War and Victoria Cross
He then served in South Africa during the 9th Cape Frontier War in 1878 and the Anglo-Zulu War of 1879. In the Zulu War he commanded the mounted infantry of the northern British column (No. 4 column) under Sir Evelyn Wood. In March 1879 the column met defeat at the Battle of Hlobane. Buller was awarded the Victoria Cross for bravery during this battle.
The following day he participated in the British victory at the Battle of Kambula. After the Zulu attacks on the British position were beaten off, he led his mounted troops in a ruthless pursuit of fleeing Zulu fighters. In June 1879, he again commanded mounted troops at the Battle of Ulundi, the Zulu capital. This decisive British victory effectively ended the war.
His VC citation, for actions taken during the Battle of Hlobane, reads:
For his gallant conduct at the retreat at Inhlobana, on the 28th March, 1879, in having assisted, whilst hotly pursued by Zulus, in rescuing Captain C. D'Arcy, of the Frontier Light Horse, who was retiring on foot, and carrying him on his horse until he overtook the rear guard. Also for having on the same date and under the same circumstances, conveyed Lieutenant C. Everitt, of the Frontier Light Horse, whose horse had been killed under him, to a place of safely. Later on, Colonel Buller, in the same manner, saved a trooper of the Frontier Light Horse, whose horse was completely exhausted, and who otherwise would have been killed by the Zulus, who were within 80 yards of him.[5]
![](http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/1/18/Redver_buller_sauvant_un_officier_%C3%A0_Hlobane.jpg/170px-Redver_buller_sauvant_un_officier_%C3%A0_Hlobane.jpg)
In an interview to
... it was discovered that the mountain was surrounded by a vast horde of Zulus. An attempt was made to descend on the side opposite to the pass. Cpl. Ashby and his little party endeavoured to fight their way down, and at last he and a man named Andrew Gemmell, now living in New Zealand, were the only ones left. With their faces to the foe, firing as they retired, they kept the Zulus at bay. Then an unfortunate thing happened, Cpl. Ashby's rifle burst, but, fortunately for him, Col. Buller, afterwards Sir Redvers Buller, who was one of the party, came galloping by, and offered to take him up behind him. Col. Buller was a heavy man, and his horse was a light one, and realizing this, Cpl. Ashby declined his generous offer. But the Colonel stayed with him, and, Cpl. Ashby having picked up a rifle and ammunition from a fallen comrade, the two men retired, firing whenever a foeman showed himself. They eventually reached the main camp, and for this service, as well as for saving the lives of two fellow-officers on the same occasion, Col. Buller received the Victoria Cross. Out of 500 men who made the attack on the Zjilobane Mountain, more than 300 met their death."[6]
First Boer War, Sudan and Ireland
In the First Boer War of 1881 he was Sir Evelyn Wood's chief of staff and the following year was again head of intelligence, this time in the Egypt campaign, and was knighted.
He had married Audrey, the daughter of the
Second Boer War and sacking
Buller became head of the troops stationed at
Buller was also popular as a military leader amongst the public in England, and he had a triumphal return from South Africa with many public celebrations, including those on 10 November 1900 when he went to Aldershot to resume his role as
Later life
![](http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/b/b7/Statue_of_General_Sir_Redvers_Buller_-_geograph.org.uk_-_1363286.jpg/200px-Statue_of_General_Sir_Redvers_Buller_-_geograph.org.uk_-_1363286.jpg)
There were many public expressions of sympathy for Buller, especially in the West Country, where in 1905 by public subscription a notable statue by Adrian Jones of Buller astride his war horse was erected in Exeter on the road from his home town of Crediton (facing away from Crediton to the annoyance of its inhabitants).
He received the Honorary Freedom of the borough of Blandford on 1 December 1902.[19]
Buller described himself as a
Marriage and offspring
![](http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/e/ee/RedversBullerAndWife.jpg/200px-RedversBullerAndWife.jpg)
In 1882, aged 43, he married Lady Audrey Jane Charlotte Townshend (d. 1926), widow of Greville Howard (son of
- (Audrey Charlotte) Georgiana Buller (1884–1953), awarded the Royal Red Cross (R.R.C.) and a Dame Commander, Order of the British Empire (1920), of Bellair House, Exeter. She served as an administrator of the War Hospitals in Exeter during World War I[2] and died unmarried in 1953.[citation needed]
Death, burial and succession
Buller died on 2 June 1908, at the family seat, Downes House, Crediton, Devon, and is buried in the churchyard of
As he died without male progeny he was succeeded in the family estates by his next surviving younger brother Arthur Tremayne Buller (born 1850), his father's fifth son.[2]
Legacy
Historian Richard Holmes (1946–2011) commented that Buller has gone down as "one of the bad jokes of Victorian military history", and quotes a famous verdict that he was "an admirable captain, an adequate major, a barely satisfactory colonel and a disastrous general". Viscount Esher called him "a gallant fellow but no strategist".[22] Wolseley praised his "stern determination of character". At least one recent historian has been kinder to his reputation:
Buller's achievements have been obscured by his mistakes. In 1909, a French military critic, General Langlois, pointed out that it was Buller, not Roberts, who had the toughest job of the war – and it was Buller who was the innovator in countering Boer tactics. The proper use of cover, of infantry advancing in rushes, co-ordinated in turn with creeping barrages of artillery: these were the tactics of truly modern war, first evolved by Buller in Natal.
Place name tributes
England
In England the
. Leicester also has a Buller Road adjacent to other streets named after Anglo Boer War Generals. Brighton also has a Redvers and a Buller Road, along with other references to the war: Mafeking Road, Ladysmith Road and Kimberley Road nearby. Buller Road in Exeter is close to Redvers Road, crossed by Nelson Road. Exeter School has a Buller House.Canada
In British Columbia Buller Street in Ladysmith is named after him, near Roberts Street and Kitchener Street. The town of Redvers, in Saskatchewan, is named after him. In Ontario, Buller Street in Woodstock is named after him.
Trinidad and Tobago
Buller Street in
and William Forbes Gatacre.Monuments
His Victoria Cross is displayed at the Royal Green Jackets (Rifles) Museum in Winchester, England.
Winchester Cathedral
There is a memorial to Buller, in the form of his recumbent effigy, in the north transept of Winchester Cathedral, England.[24] The inscription reads, "A great leader – Beloved of his men."[25]
Exeter
![](http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/6/6e/Memorial_to_Redvers_Buller_in_Exeter_Cathedral.jpg/220px-Memorial_to_Redvers_Buller_in_Exeter_Cathedral.jpg)
A bronze
Crediton
The entire western side of the chancel arch inside
Citations
- ^ a b Pirie-Gordon 1937, p. 279.
- ^ a b c Pirie-Gordon 1937, p. 278.
- ^ Bateman 1883, p. 66.
- ^ "No. 22142". The London Gazette. 21 May 1858. p. 2518.
- ^ "No. 24734". The London Gazette. 17 June 1879. p. 3966.
- The Register. Vol. LXXXII, no. 22, 017. Adelaide. 2 June 1917. p. 6 – via National Library of Australia.
- ^ "No. 26152". The London Gazette. 14 April 1891. p. 2061.
- ^ Army List.
- ^ "No. 26759". The London Gazette. 17 July 1896. p. 4095.
- ^ Holmes 2004, p. 56.
- ^ Holmes 2004, p. 97.
- ^ Holmes 2004, p. 101.
- ^ Beckett 2008.
- ^ "No. 27306". The London Gazette. 19 April 1901. p. 2698.
- ^ "General Buller at Plymouth". The Times. No. 36427. 12 April 1901. p. 8.
- ^ Powell 1994, p. 199.
- ^ "Sir Redvers Buller relieved of his command". The Times. No. 36593. London. 23 October 1901. p. 3.
- ^ a b Pevsner & Cherry 2004, p. 436.
- ^ "Court Circular". The Times. No. 36940. London. 2 December 1902. p. 10.
- ^ Powell 1994, p. 203.
- ^ Mural tablet erected by Georgiana Buller. Crediton Church.
- ^ Holmes 2004, p. 39
- ^ Pakenham 1979, p. 485.
- ^ "War Memorials Online". Warmemorialsonline.org.uk. Archived from the original on 15 August 2020. Retrieved 29 October 2021.
- ^ "Brevet Lieutenant-Colonel Redvers Henry Buller CB page Page 3 of 3". King's Royal Rifle Corps Association. Retrieved 21 April 2018.
- ^ "Exeter Memories - Exeter College". Exetermemories.co.uk.
- ^ "University of Exeter". Exeter.ac.uk.
- ^ "Council votes to remove statue to Victoria Cross-winning general over 'British imperialism' links". The Daily Telegraph. 12 January 2021. Retrieved 12 January 2021.
- ^ "Councillors vote to apply for Exeter statue relocation after review". BBC News. 13 January 2021.
- ^ "Army general statue in Exeter: Council drops relocation plan". BBC News. 10 February 2021.
- ^ Malvern, Jack. "General Sir Redvers Buller sees off his foes in Exeter statue battle". The Times.
- ^ "The Buller Memorial". Crediton Parish Church. Retrieved 14 September 2012.
- ^ Winbolt 1929.
- ^ Adams, John (8 December 2003). "JD Wetherspoon Pubs". ucl.ac.uk.
General and cited references
- Bateman, John (1883). The Great Landowners of Great Britain and Ireland. Harrison and Sons.
- Beckett, Ian F. W. (January 2008) [2004]. "Buller, Sir Redvers Henry (1839–1908)". doi:10.1093/ref:odnb/32165. (Subscription or UK public library membershiprequired.)
- Holmes, Richard (2004). The Little Field Marshal: A Life of Sir John French. Weidenfeld & Nicolson. ISBN 0-297-84614-0.
- ISBN 978-0-394-42742-3.
- Pevsner, Nikolaus; Cherry, Bridget (2004). The Buildings of England: Devon. London. p. 436.
{{cite book}}
: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link) - Pirie-Gordon, Charles Harry Clinton (1937). Burke's Genealogical and Heraldic History of the Landed Gentry. Shaw cum Burke.
- Powell, Geoffrey (1994). Buller: A Scapegoat? A Life of General Sir Redvers Buller VC. Pen and Sword. ISBN 978-1-4738-1287-1.
- Symons, Julian (1963). Buller's Campaign. Cresset Press.
- Winbolt, Samuel Edward (1929). Devon. Bell's pocket guides., English counties. London: G. Bell & Sons.
Further reading
- Dixon, Norman F. (1994). On the Psychology of Military Incompetence. Pimlico. ISBN 978-0-7126-5889-8.
- Harvey, David (1999). Monuments to courage: Victoria Cross headstones and memorials. Kevin and Kay Patience.
External links
![](http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/thumb/4/4a/Commons-logo.svg/30px-Commons-logo.svg.png)
![](http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/4/4c/Wikisource-logo.svg/38px-Wikisource-logo.svg.png)
- Location of grave and VC medal (Devonshire)
- General Sir Redvers Buller Statue in Exeter Archived 13 September 2011 at the Wayback Machine
- Crediton Parish Church article