Ben Bouwer

Brig.Gen. Daniël Bouwer (nickname Ben, during the Thirstland Trek, Damaraland, South West Africa, 31 January 1875 - Cape Town, 23 November 1938) was a South African warrior.[1]

Early life

Ben Bouwer was the son of Barend Daniel Bouwer and his wife, Hester. Along with his parents, who were possibly members of the first trek that left the Transvaal in May 1874, Dorsland trek experience. In May 1875, they moved into Thorsland (although he was born on an ox wagon in South West Africa and according to the South African Biographical Dictionary in Damaraland, according to the Standard Encyclopedia of Southern Africa) and grew up in the northern part of present-day Namibia, where his father was an elephant hunter.

Later the family settled in Angola and Ben received his first schooling in Mossamedes in Portuguese. He also mastered Ovambo, a Santal and Damara. As a young man, he returned to the South African Republic with his parents, learned five more Bantu languages and completed his studies in Pretoria. By then, he was already able to speak Afrikaans-Dutch, Portuguese, probably English, Ovambo, Damara, a Santal and five native South African languages; thus, altogether 11. He was therefore frequently asked to act as an interpreter in courts.

During the 1890s he participated in various wars against native tribes in the Northern Transvaal, including at the age of 19, in the campaign against Malaboch. In 1894 he was appointed clerk in the office of Commander-in-chief. With the Jameson Raid at the end of 1895, he, together with Daniel Theron, acted as carrier of a letter from the British agent, Sir Jacobus de Wet, to Dr. LS Jameson, in which the latter is ordered to stop the invasion attempt. With the subsequent trial of Jameson by a British court in London, Bouwer was one of the witnesses for the state.

On his return from Britain, Bouwer accepted a position in the State Attorney's office and in June 1898 met for the first time with JC Smuts, the successor to Dr. H. Coster in the office of State Attorney. In 1899 he was sent to Ermelo as a public prosecutor.[2]

The war

With the outbreak of the Second Boer War (1899-1902), Bouwer joined the Boer Army as a member of the Armless Command that invaded Natal, and took part in the battles at Colenso on December 15, 1899 and of Spioenkop on 24 January 1900, a week before his 25th birthday. During the retreat of the Boer War from Natal, Bouwer became a member of Gen. Louis Botha's staff. In March 1900, he accompanied Botha to the Orange Free State and participated in the defense against Lord Roberts' northward advancing force.[3] After the fall of Pretoria on 5 June 1900, Bouwer experienced the battles at Donkerhoek (11-12 June, 1900) Dalmanutha (21-27 August 1900). In September 1900, with the rank of field cornet, he was appointed second in command of Pres. MT Steyn 's guide through the Transvaal Bushveld to his own republic. He then joined the Western armed forces under General. JH de la Reyadded and participated in numerous successful military operations until December 1900. In that month his promotion to command followed, and during the first half of 1901 he served under Gen. JC Smuts fought in the area of Potchefstroom.[4]

In May 1901, he accompanied Smuts to a conference of the governments of the two republics at Waterval, Standerton. With the retreat he was wounded near Heidelberg. In early August 1901, as one of Smuts's commanders, he took part in an expedition through the Orange Free State to invade the Cape Colony. East of Aliwal North, they crossed the Orange River and on September 19, 1901, a section of the 17th Lancers at Modderfontein flooded. The business continued through the Cape Midlands to close to Port Elizabeth and then west, amid ongoing skirmishes, to the area of Calvinia at the beginning of November reach it.[5]

There, the Boer War forces were reorganized by the Smuts in the Cape Colony, and Bouwer was promoted to fighting general over a number of commandos that operated until the bitter end in the northwestern districts. He participated in the siege of Okiep during April and May 1902 and after the termination of hostilities, when he laid down his weapon at Vanrhynsdorp with the rank of Field General, returned to the Transvaal in July 1902.[6]

After the Freedom Struggle

Together with his brother-in-law, Philip Watermeyer, in 1903 he worked with a general agent and auctioneer in Middelburg, Tvl. But that venture, as well as an attempt to farm, failed, and Bouwer subsequently devoted himself to prospecting in the Northern Transvaal. After the award of self-government to the Transvaal, Bouwer was appointed police inspector in 1908. In 1912, he was transferred to the new Union defense force and in the same year was appointed district officer at De Aar with the rank of Major.

First World War and then

With the outbreak of the First World War in 1914, he served as district officer on Graaff-Reinet. During the rebellion of 1914 he succeeded Gen. Manie Maritz, among whom he had served for a time years before, tried to persuade him to stop the fight against the government forces and Maritz arrested him but sent to Upington. (According to another source, Maritz detained him for a while, but then released). Thereafter, Bouwer, with the rank of Colonel, participated in the campaign in South West Africa and captured Keetmanshoop of the Germans. As a first-degree staff officer, he remained in the defense force and commanded in several military districts. On November 1st in 1918 he was appointed General Staff Officer and transferred to the South African Staff Corps on February 1, 1923, a day after his 48th birthday.

During the years 1923 to 1929 he served on Potchefstroom, in Pretoria and East London. On February 1, 1929, only after he turned 54, he became commander of Military District no. 1 (in the Castle of Good Hope, Cape Town). On April 30, 1931, he retired with the rank of Brigadier General. During his last years of life he was a member of the Film Sensor Board.[7]

References
  1. Bouwer, Barend Daniël; Riche, Pierre Jacques Le; Ferreira, O. J. O. (1980). Memoirs of General Ben Bouwer. Human Sciences Research Council. ISBN 978-0-86965-618-1.
  2. Shearing, Taffy; Shearing, David (2000). General Jan Smuts and his long ride. T. and D. Shearing. ISBN 978-0-620-26750-2.
  3. Smuts, Jan Christiaan (1994). Memoirs of the Boer War. J. Ball. ISBN 978-1-86842-017-9.
  4. Miller, Stephen (2009-09-30). Soldiers and Settlers in Africa, 1850-1918. BRILL. ISBN 978-90-474-4479-4.
  5. Shearing, Taffy; Shearing, David (2000). General Jan Smuts and his long ride. T. and D. Shearing. ISBN 978-0-620-26750-2.
  6. Schoeman, Chris (2010-11-05). Boer Boy: Memoirs of an Anglo-Boer War Youth. Penguin Random House South Africa. ISBN 978-1-77022-116-1.
  7. "Capetown – Castle of Good Hope 350 Years old". Boer and Brit. 2016-03-31. Retrieved 2020-05-06.
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