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| Die helde van Bloubergstrand [boodskap #108067] |
Ma, 09 Januarie 2006 16:14  |
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The Heroes of Blaauwberg
Willem Steenkamp
Who were the heroes of the Battle of Blaauwberg, the bicentenary of
which falls on 8 January 2006, just 16 months from now? It's a sure bet
that no Capetonian will be able to answer that question, because the
Battle of Blaauwberg has been allowed to vanish into such obscurity
that at most we have a vague recollection that this was when the Cape
became a British colony. Were there, in fact, any heroes that day?
The answer is yes, there were heroes at Blaauwberg, probably the most
important battle ever fought in Southern Africa because of its
long-term consequences.
In brief, the battle took place because the British, who were mid-way
through their long, fierce struggle with France, saw possession of the
Cape - then controlled by the revolutionary French-leaning Batavian
Republic which had been proclaimed in the Netherlands - as a
commercial and strategic necessity.
As early as 1795 Sir Francis Baring, chairman of the English East India
Company, had pointed out to the then Secretary of State for War, Henry
Dundas, that the Cape "commands the passage to and from India as
effectively as Gibraltar does the Mediterranean ". Equally
trenchantly, Dundas 's own Under-Secretary noted that although the Cape
was "a feather in the hands of the Dutch" it would become "a
sword in the hands of France ".
So early in January 1806 a massive British invasion fleet of more than
60 men-of-war and transports anchored in Table Bay during a howling
south-easter, waited for it to abate somewhat and then sent about 5 000
soldiers, sailors and marines wading ashore at Losperd's Bay, today's
Melkbosch.
The British set off for the Blaauwberg while Lieutenant-General Jan
Willem Janssens, Governor of the Cape, did the same from the opposite
direction with his small scratch force of about 2 000. The British
reached the heights first, and on the morning of 8 January battle
commenced on the Cape Town side of the mountain.
Within a matter of hours it was over: vastly outnumbered and failed by
his best regiment, Janssens withdrew towards the Hottentots Holland
mountains and the British were preparing to march on Cape Town . A
turning-point had been reached in the history of Southern and Central
Africa , although no-one realised the extent of it.
To know who the heroes of Blaauwberg were, it is necessary to know who
fought there on the Batavian side. Janssens had five groups of
professional soldiers: the 5 th Battalion of the Regiment Waldeck, a
mercenary unit in Batavian service; the 9 th Battalion of the Batavian
Rifles; the 22 Regiment of Foot, a Batavian infantry unit; a small
group of Batavian dragoons (mounted riflemen); and a detachment of
Batavian artillery under a Lieutenant Pellegrini.
He also had something over 200 French marines and sailors who happened
to be available at the Cape, plus a contingent of locally born men made
up the Hottentot Light Infantry, a full-time regiment, and two
part-time volunteer units, the light dragoons from Swellendam and the
Javanese Artillery Corps, recruited from the sizeable population of
freed slaves at the Cape .
The villains of the piece were the Waldeckers. Janssens had expected
much of them; but they were the only one of his units not to cheer him
enthusiastically before the battle, and they cut and ran almost
immediately. This caused the Dutch battle-line to crumble, with units
withdrawing because their flanks were exposed.
And the heroes? The French were heroes: they held out for as long as
possible and then withdrew after suffering heavily. So were
Pellegrini's horse artillerymen, who fought to the bitter end and only
withdrew when Janssens personally ordered them. So were the three units
of Cape men, who stood and fought to the last moments, and paid the
price.
What they bought with their blood was a breathing-space that enabled
Janssens to withdraw with the rest of his army and his slow-moving
supply wagons. As a result there was no unconditional winner-takes-all
surrender, but a carefully negotiated treaty of capitulation that
benefited the people of the Cape .
The motivation of the Frenchmen and the Batavian artillerymen are
obvious enough, but what of the local men? They had very little in
common as regards material things or even religion. But one has to look
beneath the surface.
For one thing, all or most were born and bred at the Cape , and all
spoke the language that would later be called Afrikaans. Then again,
their status had changed. For more than 150 years they had not had what
we would regard as citizenship of anywhere. But the Dutch East India
Company was long gone, and since early 1803 they had been citizens of
the Batavian Republic , which was no mere token status.
In less than three years Janssens and Commissioner-General A J de Mist
had wrought great changes at the Cape according to the tenets of the
Batavian Republic , which modelled itself on the egalitarian ideals of
the French. To mention only two, they had forbidden the importation of
slaves and planned to emancipate all those in bondage, and had extended
official recognition and protection to all faiths, including Islam
(which under the DEIC had been tolerated but not officially
recognised).
It might not be going too far to say that the Cape men were fighting
for a vision of a better future, knowing that the British were the
mortal enemies of the ideals of both the French and Batavian Republics
. Right or wrong? Well, it appears very likely that if the Batavian
rule had not ended in January 1806 the Cape 's slaves would all have
been freed two decades before it actually happened.
It stands to reason that we should honour Janssens and De Mist, two
great reformers, especially by the standards of those times. It stands
just as much to reason that we should honour the Swellendam light
dragoons, the Hottentot Light Infantry and the Javanese Artillery
Corps, who laid down their lives not just for the ideals of the
Batavian Republic but also to allow a negotiated capitulation. Not to
mention the Frenchmen and Batavian gunners.
But we don't. There is no memorial to them anywhere in Cape Town , no
wreaths are laid to their memory, nobody - and this is the ultimate
insult - even remembers what they did or where they are buried. The
heroes of Blaauwberg deserve better.
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| Re: Die helde van Bloubergstrand [boodskap #108086 is 'n antwoord op boodskap #108083] |
Wo, 11 Januarie 2006 14:01  |
bouer
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Geregistreer: Desember 2003
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Jonas skryf
> Interessante stukkie geskiedenis. Ek was nie bewus hiervan en die impak
> van die gebeurtenis nie.
> Waar het jy die artikel in die hande gekry?
Ek kan nie meer presies onthou nie. Ek dink
dit was op 'n site wat deur Kaapstadse
instansies op die net geplaas is. Ek moes
seker dit erken het.
Ja, dit verbaas mens darem dat daar so
'n goed georganiseerde teenwoordigheid van
slawe-eenhede en selfs San-hulp by die
Slag van Bloubergstrand was. En dit laat
mens dink - hierdie soort geskiedenis,
ge-eien deur die bruin mense van die Kaap,
kry nuwe betekenis vir almal in die "Nuwe
Suid-Afrika." Net soos daar eers nou aandag
gegee word aan die teenwoordigheid van
swart mense in die stryd teen Engeland
gedurende die Anglo-Boereoorlog.
Gloudina
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