- George Henri Anne-Marie Victor de Villebois-Mareuil
George Henri Anne-Marie Victor de Villebois-Mareuil (
22 March ,1847 , Montaigu,Brittany ,France -6 April ,1900 ,Boshof ,Orange Free State ,South Africa ) was a Colonel in the FrenchInfantry , and French Nationalist who fought and died on the side of theBoers during theSecond Anglo-Boer War .He was the first of only twoBoer foreign volunteers to be handed the grade of Major-General in the Boer Army. The second being his second in commandEvgeni Maximov (1849-1904) after the death ofVillebois-Mareuil .He took part inFranco-Prussian War - 1871 and drove back thePrussia ns fromBlois .Early years
George Henri Anne-Marie Victor de Villebois-Mareuil was born approximately 30km South East of
Nantes . He was a soldier and author. He started his military education at theÉcole Spéciale Militaire de Saint-Cyr where he graduated as a Second Lieutenant in 1867. He loved sport and excelled ingymnastics .Shortly after his graduation he left forCochinchina where he joined the Marine Infantry serving under his uncle Admiral de Cornulier who was Governor of the Colony. He was promoted to fullLieutenant in 1870.Franco-Prussian War
He returned to France shortly after the start the
Franco-Prussian War in 1871 to defend his country against thePrussia n invaders. He joined [http://www.napoleon-series.org/military/organization/frenchguard/chasseurs/c_chasseursapied.html des Chasseurs à Pied] (7th battalion), of which he took command of the 6th company.On28 January Blois was occupied by thePrussia ns. He liberated the city and proved himself exemplary under fire, despite being badly injured during the battle. He refused to be evacuated until the end of the hostilities and spent weeks between life and death, and had to spend 9 months in hospital, after which he was decorated and promoted to the rank ofCaptain .North Africa
In 1877 he entered the
École Militaire . He leftFrance in 1881 forTunisia after graduating in 11th place in the prestigious school.He assisted in the Campaign of Tunisia of which France imposed itself as aprotectorate over the Turkish regent.In 1889 he was promoted to the rank ofMajor of the Division ofAlgiers . In 1892 he receives the rank ofColonel . At 45 years old he was the youngest Colonel in theFrench Army . He received the command of the 130th and then the 67th [http://tdm.vo.qc.ca/histoire/hist003.htm Regiment d'Infanterie Metropolitain] . In 1893 he received the terrible news that his wife had passed away in her native city ofMarseille after an extended and painful illness. In 1896 he described to a friend, "Each time I go to that sad grave in Marseille, I struggle to continue upon life’s path, such is my sultry discouragement"Foreign Legion
France invaded
Madagascar in 1883. His request to join the expeditionary forces was refused. To strengthen his chances of being selected for the expeditionary force he joined the 1st Regiment of the Foreign Legion based inSidi Bel Abbes in 1895. For six months he commanded theregiment of which twobattalions were to join the expeditionary force. Furious for not being selected he left theFrench Army in 1896.Between 1896 and 1899 he founded the "Union des Sociétés Régimentaires", published military essays and became a militant against the government for the national restoration ofFrance as promoted byCharles Maurras . He was one of the founding members of theAction Française before it includedMonarchist ideals in its doctrine.Second Anglo-Boer War
He saw in the Anglo-Boer War the chance to avenge the French humiliation at Fashoda in the
Sudan in 1898.:"But she (
England ) can be sure that this tricolour flag, grabbed from Fachoda and ripped to shreds inLondon , was brought toPretoria by French Volunteers, and has taken its place next to those of the Southern Boer Republics to support their independence against the oppressors. She gave us aHundred Years' War , and for a hundred years she has robbed the farmers from the Cape. Since then she has violated every peace treaty. Her hatred being even fiercer against theBoer , for there is French blood flowing through their veins." - F. Chinier.He arrived in Lourenço Marques on the
22 November ,1899 . In December 1899 he was appointed to the rank ofMajor by General Joubert, and fought in theBattle of Colenso . Due to his leadership capabilities he was given the rank ofMajor-General and commander of all Foreign Volunteers on17 March 1900 .The average age of his troops was thirty with the youngest being Private
Boiserolle who was only 17. He had a lot of respect for the fighting ability of the Germans under his command despite the lack of unity between the different German troops and commanders. He did not have the same convictions towards the Dutch under his command due to their apparent lack of courage and eagerness for battle. They were often referred to by the Boers themselves as lowly drunkards. - B. Lugan. He summed his thoughts about the Boer as follows: "Noble and of good race for the most, they live on their farm like in the castles of old, free and isolated... These people are standing up in the face of the whole world defying the decline of our too advanced civilizations." - La Liberté.He was betrayed by his native assistant who fled to inform the English troops of their position. He died fighting 750 Yeoman under Baron Methuen on a hill on the farm of Kareepan near
Boshof . At the time of his death he was left with 30 men out of a total of 300 who had started his campaign. Despite being massively outnumbered and enduring 3 hours ofMaxim gun fire, he was quoted as saying that he would never surrender, and would wait for the cover of darkness to escape. During his last minutes he shot two or three with his pistol, stood up during the battle to encourage his men, and was shot in the back. He fell near a wild olive tree on the hill that still carries the bullet holes from the battle.His body was taken to
Boshof , and given a full military burial by the English. His body was exhumed and reburied in the Heroes Acre inMagersfontein in 1971.In his memoirs he recognized the courage and passion of the Boers but reflected on his frustrations with their lack of tactical competence. He regretted the occasions when the Boers could have had superb victories, but decided to keep a defensive position.
He advised
General Joubert in this respect, but they decided to not continue with the push toCape Town .A song was composed in his honour by [http://fr.wikipedia.org/wiki/Th%C3%A9odore_Botrel Théodore Botrel] which read:
De Villebois-Mareuil will be remembered for his impartial analysis of the Boer Strategies. One week after his death the Boer Foreign Legion was disbanded and placed under General De la Rey to continue with the Guerilla Phase of the War. A mass arranged by the [http://fr.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ligue_de_la_patrie_fran%C3%A7aise Ligue de la Patrie Française] was held in his honour at the
Notre Dame de Paris at which 10,000 people assisted.References
*Bernard Lugan, "La Guerre des Boers 1899-1902" (ISBN 2-262-00712-8)
*F. Chinier, "La Presse Français et les Boërs", memoire de maitrise, Université de Lyon III, 1988
*"La Liberté", 22 February 1900
*"Les Carnets de Campagne du Colonel de Villebois-Mareuil", 1902
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