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Sir Redvers Buller was a professional soldier who came
from a family long associated with Devon. For rescuing three of his men
from the Zulus in the Zulu War of 1879, he was awarded the VC.
Altogether, in the years between the purchase of his commission in 1858
and 1885, he served in five wars and colonial campaigns. By all
accounts, he was an outstanding cavalry commander and an officer for
whom there was great respect.
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| Statue
of Sir Redvers Buller, Exeter |
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When war broke out between the British and the Boer
settlers in South Africa on 11 October 1899, his selection as Commander
of the Field Force for Natal seemed like a good omen for a speedy
conclusion to this affair.
Throughout the County and beyond, streets and children were named in
honour of him. The birth registration of little George Redvers Charles
Buller Stentiford early in 1900 in Plymouth conjures up visions of the
kind of adulation reserved for footballers these days. There is no doubt
that to people in this County, Sir Redvers Buller was regarded as a
hero. |
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General
Rt.Hon. Sir Redvers Buller VC GCB
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Leading an army of 70,000 men - larger than any
British Army previously sent abroad, Buller was defeated at the Battle
of Colenso in December 1899. His suggestion to the Garrison Commander in
the besieged town of Ladysmith that he should surrender earned Buller
the nickname "Reverse" Buller. His attempt to relieve
Ladysmith in January 1900 was successfully repulsed by the Boers who
inflicted terrible damage on the British troops at Spion Kop and for all
these set-backs, Buller was held accountable although, after 118 days, he
did eventually relieve Ladysmith.
He was replaced in South Africa as Commander-in-Chief by his rival,
Lord Roberts and when he returned to England, was posted to an army
training depot at Aldershot.
In October 1901, the
Times published an anonymous letter
criticising the telegram which Buller had sent to Ladysmith suggesting
surrender. Sir Redvers Buller asked to be allowed to publish the full
text of the actual
telegram in rebuttal but permission was refused. At this point, he chose
to read it out at an official luncheon - an action which led to Lord
Roberts demanding - and getting - Buller's immediate dismissal for
indiscipline.
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Downes,
Crediton
©Devon
CC |
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His career lay in ruins and he came to live, for the few years
remaining to him, at Downes, the ancestral family home on the outskirts of
Crediton. (Downes Farm, where Francis Long worked as a herdsman, being part
of the Downes Estate). Sir Redvers Buller died at Downes on 2 June 1908,
aged 68, and was buried in Holy Cross Church in Crediton. His Victoria Cross
is kept in the Museum of the Royal Green Jackets in Winchester.* |
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Memorial
tablet to Sir Redvers Buller in Holy Cross Church, Crediton
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| *Thomas Packenham, in his book The Boer
War, sets out a military explanation for the events in the second
part of Buller's life story which throws fresh light on his apparent
failure. |
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