Barend Daniël Bouwer (Ben Bouwer, born during the

Dorsland Trek Dorsland Trek (''Thirstland Trek'') is the collective name of a series of explorations undertaken by Boer settlers from South Africa from 1874 to 1881, in search of political independence and better living conditions. The participants, '' Trek ...

Damaraland Damaraland was a name given to the north-central part of South West Africa, which later became Namibia, inhabited by the Damaras. It was bordered roughly by Ovamboland in the north, the Namib Desert in the west, the Kalahari Desert in the e ...

Southwest Africa South West Africa was a territory under South African administration from 1915 to 1990. Renamed ''Namibia'' by the United Nations in 1968, it became independent under this name on 21 March 1990. South West Africa bordered Angola ( a Portu ...

31 January Events Pre-1600 * 314 – Pope Sylvester I is consecrated, as successor to the late Pope Miltiades. *1208 – The Battle of Lena takes place between King Sverker II of Sweden and his rival, Prince Eric, whose victory puts him on the thr ...

1875 Events January * January 1 – The Midland Railway of England abolishes the Second Class passenger category, leaving First Class and Third Class. Other British railway companies follow Midland's lead during the rest of the year (Third C ...

–

Cape Town Cape Town is the legislature, legislative capital city, capital of South Africa. It is the country's oldest city and the seat of the Parliament of South Africa. Cape Town is the country's List of municipalities in South Africa, second-largest ...

, 23 November

1938 Events January * January 1 – state-owned enterprise, State-owned railway networks are created by merger, in France (SNCF) and the Netherlands (Nederlandse Spoorwegen – NS). * January 20 – King Farouk of Egypt marries Saf ...

) was a South African general in the

Boer War The Second Boer War (, , 11 October 189931 May 1902), also known as the Boer War, Transvaal War, Anglo–Boer War, or South African War, was a conflict fought between the British Empire and the two Boer republics (the South African Republic an ...

(1899-1902) and the

First World War World War I or the First World War (28 July 1914 – 11 November 1918), also known as the Great War, was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War I, Allies (or Entente) and the Central Powers. Fighting to ...

(1914-1918).Grobler 2004, p. 150.

Family

Ben Bouwer was born the second child and first son among seven children of Barend Daniel Bouwer (June 5, 1842 - January 10, 1907) and Hester Catharina Regina Engelbrecht (

Potchefstroom Potchefstroom ( ; ), colloquially known as Potch, is an college town, academic city in the North West (South African province), North West Province of South Africa. It hosts the Potchefstroom Campus of the North-West University. Potchefstro ...

, February 10, 1854 -

Pretoria Pretoria ( ; ) is the Capital of South Africa, administrative capital of South Africa, serving as the seat of the Executive (government), executive branch of government, and as the host to all foreign embassies to the country. Pretoria strad ...

, July 9, 1941). Possibly his parents were in the first party of the

starting out in May 1874 from the

Transvaal Transvaal is a historical geographic term associated with land north of (''i.e.'', beyond) the Vaal River in South Africa. A number of states and administrative divisions have carried the name ''Transvaal''. * South African Republic (1856–1902; ...

. He grew up the northern part of what is now Namibia, where his father was an elephant hunter. Later his family moved to

Angola Angola, officially the Republic of Angola, is a country on the west-Central Africa, central coast of Southern Africa. It is the second-largest Portuguese-speaking world, Portuguese-speaking (Lusophone) country in both total area and List of c ...

where Bouwer went to a Portuguese primary school in

Moçâmedes Moçâmedes is a List of cities and towns in Angola, city in southwestern Angola, and the capital of Namibe Province. The city's current population is 255,000 (2014 census). Founded in 1840 by the Portuguese Angola, Portuguese colonial administr ...

(Mossamedes, on the coast of South Angola). They returned to Transvaal where he completed his education, having mastered 11 languages,

Ovambo Ovambo may refer to: *Ovambo language, Bantu language of Namibia **Ovambo people, Bantu people of Namibia *Ovamboland, former Bantustan in South West Africa (now Namibia) *Ovambo sparrowhawk The Ovambo or Ovampo sparrowhawk, also known as Hilge ...

and other Bantu languages included. Bouwer married Marianne "Janie" Evelina Rood (May 4, 1881 - March 8, 1970) by whom he had six children.

Early years

During the 1890s Bouwer took part in several wars against indigenous people in the north of the Transvaal, including the

Malaboch War The Malaboch War () (1894) was between Chief Malaboch (Mmaleboho, Mmaleboxo) of the Bahananwa (Xananwa) people and the South African Republic (ZAR) Government led by Commandant-General Piet Joubert. Malboch refused to pay taxes to the Trans ...

(1894) commanded by

Piet Joubert Petrus Jacobus Joubert (20 January 1831 – 28 March 1900), better known as Piet Joubert (''Slim Piet'', Smart Pete), was a South African politician who served as the commandant–general of the South African Republic from 1880 to 1900. He als ...

. Also in 1894 he was appointed a clerk in the office of this Commander-in-chief (Afrikaans: '' kommandant-generaal'') of the South African Republic in Pretoria. On the occasion of the botched

Jameson Raid The Jameson Raid (Afrikaans: ''Jameson-inval'', , 29 December 1895 – 2 January 1896) was a botched raid against the South African Republic (commonly known as the Transvaal) carried out by British colonial administrator Leander Starr Jameson ...

(29 December 1895 – 2 January 1896) Bouwer together with

Danie Theron Captain Daniël Johannes Stephanus Theron (9 May 1872 – 5 September 1900) was a Boer military officer, teacher and lawyer best known for his service during the Second Boer War. Born in Tulbagh, Cape Colony, he was raised in Bethlehem, South Af ...

delivered a message of the British representative at Pretoria agent sir Jacobus de Wet to Jameson ordering him in vain to stop his invasion. Later Bouwer was a government witness in the trial of Jameson in London. In the Transvaal Bouwer clerked in the office of ''staatsprokureur'' (Transvaal

State Attorney In the United States, a district attorney (DA), county attorney, county prosecutor, state attorney, state's attorney, prosecuting attorney, commonwealth's attorney, or solicitor is the chief prosecutor or chief law enforcement officer represen ...

) J.C. Smuts, the successor of Herman Coster.

Boer War 1899-1902

After the outbreak of the

Anglo-Boer War The Second Boer War (, , 11 October 189931 May 1902), also known as the Boer War, Transvaal War, Anglo–Boer War, or South African War, was a conflict fought between the British Empire and the two Boer republics (the South African Republic an ...

(1899-1902) Bouwer joined the invasion of the British

Natal Colony The Colony of Natal was a British colony in south-eastern Africa. It was proclaimed a British colony on 4 May 1843 after the British government had annexed the Boer Republic of Natalia, and on 31 May 1910 combined with three other colonies t ...

as part of the Ermelo Commando. He participated in the

Battle of Colenso The Second Battle of Colenso, also known as the Battle of Colenso, was the third and final battle fought during the Black Week of the Second Boer War. It was fought between British and Boer forces from the independent South African Republic a ...

15 December Events Pre-1600 * 533 – Vandalic War: Byzantine general Belisarius defeats the Vandals, commanded by King Gelimer, at the Battle of Tricamarum. * 687 – Pope Sergius I is elected as a compromise between antipopes Paschal and Theodo ...

1899 Events January * January 1 ** Spanish rule formally ends in Cuba with the cession of Spanish sovereignty to the U.S., concluding 400 years of the Spanish Empire in the Americas.''The American Monthly Review of Reviews'' (February 1899), p ...

and the

Battle of Spion Kop The Battle of Spion Kop (; ) was a military engagement between British forces and two Boer Republics, the South African Republic and the Orange Free State, during the campaign by the British to relieve the besieged city Ladysmith during the ...

(Afrikaans: Slag van Spioenkop) on

24 January Events Pre-1600 * 41 – Claudius is proclaimed Roman emperor by the Praetorian Guard after they assassinate the previous emperor, his nephew Caligula. * 914 – Start of the First Fatimid invasion of Egypt. *1438 – The Council ...

1900 As of March 1 ( O.S. February 17), when the Julian calendar acknowledged a leap day and the Gregorian calendar did not, the Julian calendar fell one day further behind, bringing the difference to 13 days until February 28 ( O.S. February 15 ...

. While retreating from Natal Bouwer was added to the staff of general

Louis Botha Louis Botha ( , ; 27 September 1862 – 27 August 1919) was a South African politician who was the first Prime Minister of South Africa, prime minister of the Union of South Africa, the forerunner of the modern South African state. A Boer war v ...

and joined him in the resistance of the

Orange Free State The Orange Free State ( ; ) was an independent Boer-ruled sovereign republic under British suzerainty in Southern Africa during the second half of the 19th century, which ceased to exist after it was defeated and surrendered to the British Em ...

in March 1900 against the onslaught of Lord Roberts's army northward. After the British occupied Pretoria on 5 June 1900 Bouwer fought in the

Battle of Diamond Hill The Battle of Diamond Hill (Donkerhoek) () was an engagement of the Second Boer War that took place on 11 and 12 June 1900 in central Transvaal. Background The Boer forces retreated to the east by the time the capital of the South Africa ...

(Afrikaans: Slag van Donkerhoek, 11–12 June 1900) and the

Battle of Bergendal The Battle of Berg-en-dal (also known as the Battle of Belfast or Battle of Dalmanutha) took place in South Africa during the Second Anglo-Boer War. The battle was the last set-piece battle of the war, although the war was still to last another ...

(Battle of Dalmanutha/Battle of Belfast, 21–27 August 1900). In September 1900 he was appointed ''veldkornet'' and second in command of Orange Free State president M.T. Steyn's escort through Transvaal to Orange Free State and performed successful operations under general

Koos de la Rey Jacobus Herculaas de la Rey (pronounced phonetically as "Ya-qui-bis Hehr-key-lahs de la Ray") (22 October 1847 – 15 September 1914), better known as Koos de la Rey, was a South African military officer who served as a Boer general during the ...

until he started fighting under general Smuts near

in December 1900. Bouwer attended the conference of Orange Free State and Transvaal leaders in May 1901 at

Waterfall A waterfall is any point in a river or stream where water flows over a vertical drop or a series of steep drops. Waterfalls also occur where meltwater drops over the edge of a tabular iceberg or ice shelf. Waterfalls can be formed in seve ...

near

Standerton Standerton is a large commercial and agricultural town lying on the banks of the Vaal River in Mpumalanga, South Africa, which specialises in cattle, dairy, maize and poultry farming. The town was established in 1876 and named after Boer leader Co ...

and was wounded near Heidelberg. In August 1901 Bouwer together with Jacobus van Deventer served as Smuts's adjudant commanders in his invasion of the

Cape Colony The Cape Colony (), also known as the Cape of Good Hope, was a British Empire, British colony in present-day South Africa named after the Cape of Good Hope. It existed from 1795 to 1802, and again from 1806 to 1910, when it united with three ...

from Orange Free State. They surprised and defeated the C Squadron of the British

17th Lancers The 17th Lancers (Duke of Cambridge's Own) was a Cavalry regiments of the British Army, cavalry regiment of the British Army, raised in 1759 and notable for its participation in the Charge of the Light Brigade during the Crimean War. The regim ...

near Modderfontein in the

Battle of Elands River (1901) The Battle of Elands River took place near the Elands River Poort mountain pass on 17 September 1901 during the Second Boer War. During the battle a Boer raiding force under Jan Smuts destroyed a British cavalry squadron led by Captain Sandeman ...

on 19 September 1901 and continued south up to

Port Elizabeth Gqeberha ( , ), formerly named Port Elizabeth, and colloquially referred to as P.E., is a major seaport and the most populous city in the Eastern Cape province of South Africa. It is the seat of the Nelson Mandela Bay Metropolitan Municipal ...

and then to the west reaching the environs of

Calvinia Calvinia is a regional town in the Northern Cape province of South Africa named after the French people, French religious reformer Jean Calvin. The town falls under the Hantam Local Municipality which forms part of the Namakwa District Municipalit ...

at the beginning of November 1901. When Smuts reorganised his troops in Cape Colony Bouwer became ''veggeneraal'' (fighting general). In January 1902 Bouwer's men found a British battle ship anchored at Doringbaai in

Western Cape The Western Cape ( ; , ) is a provinces of South Africa, province of South Africa, situated on the south-western coast of the country. It is the List of South African provinces by area, fourth largest of the nine provinces with an area of , an ...

and chased it away by firing at it. Bouwer and van Deventer captured

Windhoek Windhoek (; ; ) is the capital and largest city of Namibia. It is located in central Namibia in the Khomas Highland plateau area, at around above sea level, almost exactly at the country's geographical centre. The population of Windhoek, which ...

at the end of February 1902. His operations in the North West included the siege of

Okiep Okiep is a small town in the Northern Cape province of South Africa, and was in the 1870s ranked as having the richest copper mine in the world. The town is on the site of a spring that was known in the Khoekhoe language of the Nama people as ''U- ...

(April–May 1902) until after the

Treaty of Vereeniging The Treaty of Vereeniging was a peace treaty, signed on 31 May 1902, that ended the Second Boer War between the South African Republic and the Orange Free State on the one side, and the United Kingdom on the other. This settlement provided ...

when he finally put his arms down near

Vanrhynsdorp Vanrhynsdorp (also written Van Rhynsdorp; ) is a town located in the West Coast District Municipality of the Western Cape province in South Africa. Considered the oldest and most southern European-settled town in Namaqualand, Vanrhynsdorp serves ...

. In July 1902 he returned to Transvaal.

First World War 1914-1918 and after

At the start of the

in 1914 Bouwer served in the new army of the

Union of South Africa The Union of South Africa (; , ) was the historical predecessor to the present-day South Africa, Republic of South Africa. It came into existence on 31 May 1910 with the unification of the British Cape Colony, Cape, Colony of Natal, Natal, Tra ...

as a district officer at

Graaff-Reinet Graaff-Reinet (; Xhosa: eRhafu) is a town in the Eastern Cape Province of South Africa. It is the oldest town in the province and the fourth oldest town in South Africa, after Cape Town, Stellenbosch, Simon's Town, Paarl and Swellendam. The to ...

. He opposed the Maritz rebellion of 1914 and tried in vain to persuade his former superior general

Manie Maritz Manie Maritz (26 July 1876 – 20 December 1940), also known as Gerrit Maritz, was a Boer officer during the Second Boer War. He was also a participant in the Herero and Nama genocide and later a leading participant in the pro-German Maritz reb ...

to desist. Afterwards he fought the Germans as a colonel in

German South West Africa German South West Africa () was a colony of the German Empire from 1884 until 1915, though Germany did not officially recognise its loss of this territory until the 1919 Treaty of Versailles. German rule over this territory was punctuated by ...

and conquered

Keetmanshoop Keetmanshoop is a town in the ǁKaras Region of southern Namibia. It is named after , a German Empire, German industrialist and benefactor of the city. Keetmanshoop had a population of 27,862 people in 2023. History Before the colonial era, ...

. At the end of the war Bouwer was appointed to the general army staff and had an army career in Potchefstroom,

, Oos-Londen and at the

Castle of Good Hope A castle is a type of fortified structure built during the Middle Ages predominantly by the nobility or royalty and by military orders. Scholars usually consider a ''castle'' to be the private fortified residence of a lord or noble. This i ...

. On

30 April Events Pre-1600 * 311 – The Diocletianic Persecution of Christians in the Roman Empire ends. * 1315 – Enguerrand de Marigny is hanged at the instigation of Charles, Count of Valois. *1492 – Spain gives Christopher Columbus h ...

1931 Events January * January 2 – South Dakota native Ernest Lawrence invents the cyclotron, used to accelerate particles to study nuclear physics. * January 4 – German pilot Elly Beinhorn begins her flight to Africa. * January 22 – Sir I ...

he was pensioned with the rank of brigade general. Thereafter he was a member of the South African Filmsensorraad (Film Censor Board), responsible for the national classification and censorship of films. He received the South African

Dekoratie voor Trouwe Dienst The ''Dekoratie voor Trouwe Dienst'', post-nominal letters DTD, is a South African military decoration. It was instituted in 1920 as a retrospective award for Boer officers of the 1899–1902 Second Boer War.Alexander, E.G.M., Barron, G.K.B. a ...

and

Distinguished Service Order The Distinguished Service Order (DSO) is a Military awards and decorations, military award of the United Kingdom, as well as formerly throughout the Commonwealth of Nations, Commonwealth, awarded for operational gallantry for highly successful ...

honours.

Literature

* M. P. Bossenbroek, Yvette Rosenberg (Translator), ''The Boer War'',

Seven Stories Press Seven Stories Press is an independent American publishing company. Based in New York City, the company was founded by Dan Simon in 1995, after establishing Four Walls Eight Windows in 1984 as an imprint at Writers and Readers, and then incorpor ...

, New York, NY, 2018. , 1609807472. Pages 365, 368–369, 374, 379, 381–382. * J. E. H. Grobler, ''The War Reporter: the Anglo-Boer war through the eyes of the burghers'', Johannesburg: Jonathan Ball Publishers, 2004. ISBN 978-1-86842-186-2. Pages 120, 126–127, 134, 140, 142, 150. * Daniël Wilhelmus Krüger, in Krüger, prof. D.W. and Beyers, C.J. (eds.), ''Suid-Afrikaanse Biografiese Woordeboek, deel III''. Kaapstad: Tafelberg-Uitgewers, 1977. In Afrikaans. * * Potgieter, D.J. (ed.), ''Standard Encyclopaedia of Southern Africa, volume 2''. Cape Town: Nasionale Opvoedkundige Uitgewery (Nasou), 1970. * Reitz, Deneys, ''Commando: A Boer Journal of the Boer War'', London, 1929. * Pierre Jacques Le Riche, Barend Daniël Bouwer, O. J. O. Ferreira, ''Memoirs of General Ben Bouwer'', Human Sciences Research Council, Pretoria, 1980.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Bouwer, Ben 1875 births 1938 deaths Afrikaner people South African Republic generals South African Republic military personnel of the Second Boer War South African military personnel of World War I Emigrants from German South West Africa Immigrants to Angola