Place Name
General Sir Redvers Henry Buller (December 7, 1839 – June 2, 1908) who led British forces against Louis Botha’s Boer army to win the Battle of Tugela Heights, which ran from February 14 until February 27, 1900, during the Second Boer War. His victory later lifted the Siege of Ladysmith, although he himself had initially advised that the city’s forces should surrender themselves. Earlier in his career, Buller had seen action in China and against native forces in South Africa. After a period as an administrator back in England he returned to South Africa following the outbreak of hostilities that marked the start of the Second Boer War. He was, however, a man whose time had passed. He was hopelessly out-manoeuvred by the Boers and eventually ordered back to the UK. Despite his failings he had a triumphal return with many public celebrations including those on November 10, 1900, when he went to Aldershot to resume his role as General Officer Commanding Aldershot District, later to be remembered as “a Buller day”. While his command was criticised by the Government and within the military, The Times later reported: “Cheered as he was by the mob when recognized in the streets of London, and supported by many who agreed in his view that he had had something less than fair treatment in the criticisms that had been levelled against him, he may well have found it difficult to withstand the temptation of appealing to public opinion against the judgment of his military superiors.” He died after a long illness.
