Major-General Sir Edward Yewd Brabant, (31 May 1839 – 13 December 1914) was a British military commander in colonial South Africa. He served in the 9th Xhosa War (1877–1878),

First Matabele War The First Matabele War was fought between 1893 and 1894 in modern-day Zimbabwe. It pitted the British South Africa Company against the Ndebele (Matabele) Kingdom. Lobengula, king of the Ndebele, had tried to avoid outright war with the compa ...

(1893–1894), and other campaigns. During the

Second Boer War The Second Boer War ( af, Tweede Vryheidsoorlog, , 11 October 189931 May 1902), also known as the Boer War, the Anglo–Boer War, or the South African War, was a conflict fought between the British Empire and the two Boer Republics (the South ...

(1899–1902), he commanded the Colonial Division in 1900, and the Colonial Defence Force of

Cape Colony The Cape Colony ( nl, Kaapkolonie), also known as the Cape of Good Hope, was a British colony in present-day South Africa named after the Cape of Good Hope, which existed from 1795 to 1802, and again from 1806 to 1910, when it united with t ...

in 1901.

Early life

Brabant was born in Kinderton Lodge, in

Middlewich Middlewich is a town in the unitary authority of Cheshire East and the ceremonial county of Cheshire, England, east of Chester, east of Winsford, southeast of Northwich and northwest of Sandbach. The population at the 2011 Census was 13,595 ...

, Cheshire, the son of John Thomas and Elizabeth Jane Brabant. He was baptised at a week old.

First Matabele War

Captain Brabant oversaw the

Ndebele Ndebele may refer to: *Southern Ndebele people, located in South Africa *Northern Ndebele people, located in Zimbabwe and Botswana Languages * Southern Ndebele language, the language of the South Ndebele *Northern Ndebele language Northern ...

employed by the British South Africa Company forces in Fort Victoria,

Matabeleland Matabeleland is a region located in southwestern Zimbabwe that is divided into three provinces: Matabeleland North, Bulawayo, and Matabeleland South. These provinces are in the west and south-west of Zimbabwe, between the Limpopo and Zambezi ...

(now

Masvingo Masvingo is a city in south-eastern Zimbabwe and the capital of Masvingo Province. The city is situated close to Great Zimbabwe, the national monument from which the country takes its name and close to Lake Mutirikwi, its recreational park, ...

Zimbabwe Zimbabwe (), officially the Republic of Zimbabwe, is a landlocked country located in Southeast Africa, between the Zambezi and Limpopo Rivers, bordered by South Africa to the south, Botswana to the south-west, Zambia to the north, and ...

). He worked with "Matabele" Benjamin Wilson from Cumberland, who was one of the twelve scouts for Allan Wilson's Victoria Column. The other column scouts were: Bob Bain (Canadian),

Frederick Russell Burnham Frederick Russell Burnham DSO (May 11, 1861 – September 1, 1947) was an American scout and world-traveling adventurer. He is known for his service to the British South Africa Company and to the British Army in colonial Africa, and for teach ...

(American), Jack Carruthers, Art Cummings, Duncan Dollar, Pearl "Pete" Ingram (American), Harry Lloyd, Texas Long, Billy Lynch, Andrew Main, and Billy Reed.

Second Anglo-Boer War

As a Brigadier General of the Eastern Cape troops, his command included:

Cape Mounted Riflemen The Cape Mounted Riflemen were South African military units. There were two separate successive regiments of that name. To distinguish them, some military historians describe the first as the "imperial" Cape Mounted Riflemen (originally the ' ...

, the 79th Battery, RFA, the Kaffrarian Rifles, the Queenstown Volunteers, part of the 1st Battalion, Royal Scots, and Brabant's Horse. He occupied Jamestown and the Herschel district in February 1900. His units operated round the Queenstown/

Dordrecht Dordrecht (), historically known in English as Dordt (still colloquially used in Dutch, ) or Dort, is a city and municipality in the Western Netherlands, located in the province of South Holland. It is the province's fifth-largest city after R ...

area and moved north to hold the Jammersburg Drift at

Wepener Wepener is a town in the Free State, South Africa, located near the border of Lesotho. History The town is named after Louw Wepener, the leader of the Boers in their war with the Basotho chief Moshoeshoe I in 1865. It was founded in 1867 on t ...

, which they did under appalling rain and cold against a superior

Boer Boers ( ; af, Boere ()) are the descendants of the Dutch-speaking Free Burghers of the eastern Cape frontier in Southern Africa during the 17th, 18th, and 19th centuries. From 1652 to 1795, the Dutch East India Company controlled this are ...

force led by Christiaan De Wet.

Brabant's Horse

On 5 November 1899, Brabant raised the Light Horse regiment known as ''Brabant's Horse.'' The top strength of the unit was 600, all ranks, including South African colonials, Australians, British, Canadians. The unit saw much action against Boer commandos. Brabant's Horse was disbanded in Cape Town on 31 December 1901. In 1901 he was knighted as a

Knight Commander of the Order of the Bath The Most Honourable Order of the Bath is a British order of chivalry founded by George I on 18 May 1725. The name derives from the elaborate medieval ceremony for appointing a knight, which involved bathing (as a symbol of purification) as o ...

(KCB) for his services in South Africa.

Later career

Following the end of the war in May 1902, Brabant visited the UK to take the command of the Cape contingent present in London for the

Coronation of King Edward VII and Queen Alexandra The coronation of Edward VII and his wife, Alexandra, as King and Queen of the United Kingdom and the British Dominions, and as Emperor and Empress of India took place at Westminster Abbey, London, on 9 August 1902. Originally scheduled for 26 ...

, including men of the Cape Mounted Rifles and the Cape Police. He received the honorary rank of

major-general Major general (abbreviated MG, maj. gen. and similar) is a military rank used in many countries. It is derived from the older rank of sergeant major general. The disappearance of the "sergeant" in the title explains the apparent confusion of a ...

on 22 August 1902, and returned to South Africa in the the following month. The next year, he served as Commandant-General of the

Cape Colonial Forces The Cape Colonial Forces (CCF) were the official defence organisation of the Cape Colony in South Africa. Established in 1855, they were taken over by the Union of South Africa in 1910, and disbanded when the Union Defence Forces were formed in ...

(1903–1904).

Family

His son, Lieutenant Arthur Edward Brabant, served with the Imperial Light Horse during the Second Boer War. He was wounded at the

Siege of Ladysmith The siege of Ladysmith was a protracted engagement in the Second Boer War, taking place between 2 November 1899 and 28 February 1900 at Ladysmith, Natal. Background As war with the Boer republics appeared likely in June 1899, the War Offic ...

and died two days later on 5 November 1899.

References

* by Arthur Conan Doyle, London, Smith, Elder & Co. (1902) {{DEFAULTSORT:Brabant, Edward 1839 births 1914 deaths People from Middlewich 19th-century British military personnel Knights Commander of the Order of the Bath Companions of the Order of St Michael and St George People of the First Matabele War British military personnel of the Second Boer War British military personnel of the 9th Cape Frontier War Cape Colony army officers