Dates

• Existence: 7 December 1839 - 2 June 1908

Biography

British Army officer who served as Commander-in-Chief of British Forces in South Africa during the early months of the Second Boer War and commanded the army in Natal until November 1900.

Buller was the second son and heir of James Wentworth Buller (1798–1865), MP for Exeter, and Charlotte Juliana Jane Howard-Molyneux-Howard (d.1855). The Bullers were an old Cornish family.

He was educated at Eton and purchased a commission in the 60th Rifles in 1858. He served in the Second Opium War and was promoted captain before taking part in the Canadian Red River Expedition of 1870. In 1873–74, he was the Intelligence Officer under Lord Wolseley during the Ashanti campaign. He was promoted to Major and appointed a Companion of the Order of the Bath.

He served in South Africa during the 9th Cape Frontier War in 1878 and the Anglo-Zulu War of 1879. In the Zulu War he commanded the Mounted Infantry of the Northern British column under Sir Evelyn Wood. He fought at the British defeat at the Battle of Hlobane, where he was awarded the Victoria Cross for bravery under fire. The following day he fought in the British victory at the Battle of Kambula. After the Zulu attacks on the British position were beaten off, he led a ruthless pursuit by the mounted troops of the fleeing Zulus. In June 1879, he again commanded mounted troops at the Battle of Ulundi, a decisive British victory which effectively ended the war.

In the First Boer War of 1881 he was Sir Evelyn Wood's chief of staff and the following year was again head of intelligence, this time in the Egypt campaign, and was knighted.

Buller had a long and prolific military career, serving in all the key conflicts of his time including Sudan, Ireland, the Second Boer War and he was eventually promoted to General in 1896.

For a while Buller was popular as a military leader amongst the public in England. However, his reputation had been damaged by his early defeats in South Africa and through public discontent the Ministry of War used him as a scapegoat and dismissed him from the Forces on 22 October 1901. Although he tried to appeal, he had not option but to retire. After his military career was over, Bullen served as Principal Warden of the Goldsmiths' Company until his death in 1908.

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