My Reminiscences of the Anglo-Boer War

by Ben J. Viljoen (Creator)

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Genres: History, Nonfiction

322 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1902

Reviews

[Marius van Blerck · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book is an excellent first-hand account of the Anglo-Boer War by a senior General. Viljoen is by no means an accomplished raconteur, and the pen sits uneasily in his hand. He is hardly helped by a poor translator, who is unintentionally hilarious at times, for example consistently translating "wildebeest" and as "wild beasts". However the real value of this work is that Viljoen was central to operations in the Transvaal theatre of war, and it gives an open and honest account of proceedings, not sparing his own people from criticism, while finding some occasion to apportion praise to his opponents. He comes across as a commander who was initially fairly tentative (and has the honesty not to gloss over this), but who eventually proved his tenacity and ability to command forces over an extended period, in extremely difficult circumstances. Finally, of great value is that this work was written while he was a prisoner in St Helena, while the war continued, so it is completelty free of hindsight.

[Liz · Rating 4 out of 5]

The war between the British and the Boers from 1899–1902— known either as the South African War or the Second Boer War—was fought across the bush, hills and rocky koppies of the Transvaal and Orange Free State. In this vast theatre, a massive, well-equipped, and disciplined British army confronted small, loosely organised Boer commandos. The British sought to tighten their imperial grip, secure the region’s rich gold and diamond mines, and advance Cecil Rhodes’s dream of painting the map red from Cape to Cairo. The Boers, by contrast, fought to preserve their independence and keep their two republics under their own control.

At school, we were taught this conflict in a dry, abstract fashion, soon forgotten after the final history exam. I had little interest in the Boer War—until I encountered this powerful account, written by General B.J. Viljoen, of his personal experiences, mainly in the Eastern Transvaal. Written in 1902, when the war was drawing to a close and his memories were still vivid, his recollections have an immediacy and authenticity that make them striking even today.

Viljoen’s tone is both candid and reflective. He evaluates his role as a leader with honesty—praising and criticising himself in equal measure. Though brave, he often doubted his ability to inspire loyalty in his men. He does not gloss over his failures, confronting them with humility, nor does he spare the flaws of the Boer forces. Organised into local commandos, they lacked cohesion; desertion was common, as men abandoned their commandos and fled home out of fear of battle or for concerns for their farms and families. Coordination between leaders was poor, with orders frequently lost or disregarded. Yet, the Boers were also swift, intimately familiar with the terrain, and superb marksmen—qualities that allowed them to wage a highly effective guerrilla campaign against the far more regimented British army.

Viljoen acknowledges the strengths of his opponents. He commends certain British commanders for sound decisions and admires the courage of individual soldiers, particularly the Irish regiments, while also highlighting some of the disastrous strategic errors made by the British. His memoir conveys an old-fashioned but genuine sense of chivalry, emphasising respect for adversaries and humane treatment of civilians and prisoners of war. Yet his account is strikingly silent on the cruelties of the concentration camps in which thousands of women, children, and black South Africans perished. He touches only briefly on the British scorched earth policy, framing it in terms of the food shortages it created for Boer fighters.

Unsurprisingly, given the prejudices of his time, Viljoen, in an understated way, portrays black South Africans as lesser beings. His attitude reflects the ideology that would dominate South Africa for the next ninety years. Fortunately, subsequent historical research has restored the significant role of black South Africans in this conflict, acknowledging their immense suffering—particularly in the over crowded concentration camps, where disease and malnutrition were widespread.

This memoir stands out for its penetrating analysis and its human perspective. For South Africans whose understanding of the war is limited to textbook summaries, Viljoen’s account offers a compelling insight into the Boer settlers’ resistance to foreign imperialism, while also revealing—through omission rather than emphasis—the racist ideologies and injustices that marked our tragic history.

[Bill38silver · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book is a valuable volume of a sadly neglected war nowadays in popular history magazines. It is written from the Boer perspective by one of its senior commanders based not on his contemporary notes but his memories fresh in his mind whilst held in captivity on St Helena. Viljoen is no Napoleon but his treatment as a criminal, transported thousands of miles from family and comrades, rather than as prisoner of war, is but one of many aspects of the last imperial war that the British have cause to regret. Such policy, coupled with its mal-treatment of huge numbers of women and children in concentration camps, was counter-productive; instead of bringing the harassed foe to heel it merely hardened the hearts of the Boers.

Viljoen's narrative gives a thoroughly interesting account of events directly experienced by one of the senior Boer leaders. It is revealing in its anecdotes about the conflict and much chasing around of his small groups of fighters when the battles were replaced by guerilla warfare. His views on the leadership and the soldiers of the Boers and British are generally even-handed and he has plenty of criticism of those on his own side. Viljoen comes across as a "decent man" determined to defend his homeland (which he forgets the Boers had previously taken over from the indigenous population).

[Stephen · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book has been a gem in my reading on the Boer War. Occasionally it dips into deep descriptions of the fighting and preparations for battle (those descriptions are less interesting to me), but General Viljoen offers a very candid portrait of his war experience. The vernacular used in telling the history gives the reader a sense of how Boers and Englishmen spoke and felt about the war. You get a sense of the mutual frustration experienced by both parties, emphasized in the appendix where General Viljoen publishes copies of his correspondence with English generals. The General is very open with his feelings of Boer commanders and traitors, his admiration of some British officers and his contempt for others. The reader also gets a sense of how Boers at large viewed native Africans, the irony of an outside power coming in and accusing you of being backwards and subsequently removing you from your land by force is lost on the Boers. I read this looking for the voice of a Boer and I found it, it will be helpful to someone looking to place a story of their own in the same time period.

[Mike · Rating 2 out of 5]

Viljoen wouldn't win any prizes for his descriptive writing on what action he did see. He would seem not to have been a natural commander or soldier and to be honest his reminiscences are no pager turners. One or two anecdotes do reveal that not all the Boers were as keen on the scrap as the 'bitter-enders' and others show selfless bravery for their cause.

[Devin Coryell · Rating 5 out of 5]

4.5/5