Semyon Budenny died in Moscow on 17 October- He was one of the last of the original marshals of
the Soviet Union, and although he suffered a severe de-
feat at Kiev, he was given the Hero of the Soviet Union
award.
References: Windrow, Martin, and Francis K. Mason,
“Buddeny, Semyon,” in The Wordsworth Dictionary of
Military Biography (Hertfordshire, U.K.: Wordsworth
Editions Ltd., 1997), 38–39; “The Men Who Are Win-
ning the Race to Germany,” Picture Post (U.K.) 24, no.
5 (29 July 1944), 7–9; Budenny, S. M., Proidennyi Put
(The Path of Valour) (Moscow: Progress Publishers,
1972).
Buller, Sir Redvers Henry (1839–1908) British
general
Sir Redvers Buller remains almost a controversial figure,
praised by some but blamed by others for defeats in the
Second Boer War. Born in Devonshire, England, on 7
December 1839, Buller received his education at Eton,
the best-known English private school. He entered the
British army in 1858 and saw action in China in 1860.
Ten years later, he was promoted to the rank of captain
and commissioned in the King’s Royal Rifle Corps. He
served in the First Ashanti War (1873–74), the Kaffir
War (1878–79), and the Zulu War of 1879. Following
the retreat of British troops from Inhlobane on 29 March
1879, he received the Victoria Cross for bravery.
In 1881, Buller was sent to southern Africa to fight
in the First Boer War, serving as chief of staff for Sir Ev-
elyn Wood. In 1882, he was sent to Egypt, where, under
Sir Garnet Wolseley, first viscount Wolseley, he fought at
Tamai (13 March 1884) in the First Sudan War. In this
action, British troops under Lieutenant General Gerald
Graham (1831–99) attacked and defeated the Mahdists
under Osman Digna, suffering 214 casualties to more
than 2,000 for the Mahdists. In 1885, Buller served as
chief of staff to Wolseley. It was in the Sudan that he ex-
hibited great bravery, noted especially during the retreat
of the British army from Gabat to Korti, as well as dur-
ing his victory at Abu Klea (16–17 February 1885). For
this service, he was awarded the Knight Commander of
the Order of Bath (KCB). He returned to England and,
on 15 October 1887, was named quartermaster general
at the War Office. After several years of service there, he
was promoted to full general in 1896.
From October 1898 to October 1899, Buller was
the general officer commanding at Aldershot, the senior
field command in the United Kingdom. In 1899, the
Second African War, or Second Boer War, broke out,
and Buller was named to command the British troops
there. On 31 October 1899, he arrived in Capetown to
take control of that city and to aid the 13,000 British
troops whom the Boers held under siege at Ladysmith.
His first attempt to bring relief to Ladysmith was re-
pelled on 15 December 1899 at the battle of Colenso.
Historian George Bruce writes: “Buller attempted to
carry by a frontal attack the Boer position on the op-
posite side of the Tugela [River] and, notwithstanding
the gallantry of the troops, was compelled to retire, with
a loss of 71 officers and 1,055 rank and file.” Buller
launched a second attempt to relieve Ladysmith on 10
January 1900, which also ended in failure 17 days later.
A third effort, begun on 5 February and lasting until 7
February, ended at Vaalkranz, again unsuccessful, but he
eventually liberated Ladysmith on 28 February.
Although he was ultimately successful, Buller’s re-
peated failures caused the British government to lose
confidence in him, and he was removed from command,
to be replaced by Lord roberts. Buller’s tactical inef-
ficiency had been signaled by his conduct of military
training back in Britain. As historian Geoffrey Regan
writes: “In the 1899 military manoeuvres [training ex-
ercises] at Aldershot, Buller, who had not commanded
troops for twelve years, ordered his men to make a full
frontal assault against an equal number of defenders. His
men had just finished a fourteen-mile march and were
in no condition for attacking anybody. Not surprisingly,
the manoeuvres had to be abandoned. Buller’s conduct
of the manoeuvres was comically inept: no trenches were
dug for fear of damaging the countryside, no man was
allowed to dive for cover lest he damage his uniform,
and the soldiers eventually had to resort to volley firing
at each other in the open and at ranges of less than a
hundred metres.”
Buller returned to England and was given the title
of Knight Grand Cross of the Most Distinguished Order
of St. Michael and St. George (GCMG) despite mistakes
that had cost the lives of thousands of men and earned
him the nickname “Reverse” Buller. When he returned
to Aldershot in January 1901, he was criticized in the
English press. Buller answered his critics in a speech on
10 October 1901, but the British high command found
this to be a breach of military discipline and placed himbulleR, SiR ReDveRS henRy