Frederick Russell Burnham

from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Frederick Russell Burnham, 1902.

Frederick Russell Burnham , DSO , (born May 11, 1861 in Tivoli , Minnesota , USA ; † September 15, 1947 in Three Rivers , California , USA) was a major in the British Army and commander of the reconnaissance units in the Second Boer War under Field Marshal Roberts . He was an acquaintance of Robert Baden-Powell , from whom he was instructed in what was then known as "Boy Scout Skills".

Life

In 1875, at the age of 14, he began his career as a scout in the Apache Wars in Southwest America ( Texas and Oklahoma ), where he also came to Mexico . After that he was a cowboy, buffalo hunter and again a scout for the Indian persecution. He was with General George Crook in 1882, alongside Chief Scout Al Sieber in Arizona . In Pinal County, Arizona, he was appointed Deputy Sheriff .

In 1893 Burnham moved to South Africa with his wife and young son to work for the British South Africa Society . Shortly afterwards the Matabele Wars broke out and Burnham fought for the British South Africa Society in what was later to be southern Rhodesia . During the First Matabele War , Burnham was one of only three survivors of the Shangani Patrol . In the Second Matabelekrieg Burnham, played a major role, since he managed to ambush the leader of the Matabele, a medicine man named Uwini who saw himself as a prophet of the war god Mlimo in the Matabele holy cave and kill on 24 June 1896th On August 18, messengers from the remaining Izinduna Sikombo and Inyanda came to the camp and asked for peace negotiations. Three days later they, Cecil Rhodes and 40 other chiefs had a conversation lasting more than four hours .

After the fighting in Rhodesia ended, Burnham returned to the US, where he participated in the Klondike gold rush. When the Second Boer War broke out , Burnham was called back to South Africa and appointed Chief of Scouts by the British Supreme Commander Frederick Roberts, 1st Earl Roberts . In the rank of major, he left the British Army after only six months because his wounds were too severe for further use in the field. However , he refused to be awarded the Victoria Cross because he would have had to give up his American citizenship .

To my sympathetic enemy, Major Frederick Russell Burnham, the greatest scout in the world, whose eyes were those of the Empire. I once coveted the honor of killing him, but failing that, I increase my heartfelt admiration.
Signed letter: Fritz Joubert Duquesne, 1933,
From one warrior to another.

For many years, starting with the Second Boer War, Fritz Joubert Duquesne had the task of killing Burnham. Both met in 1910 for the first time in Washington, DC , where they both separately in the United States Congress for a law promoted which would legalize the import of African wild game to the United States (Mr 23621). After Burnham returned to America, he was still working for the UK in counter-espionage , with his duties often involving Duquesne.

During the First World War , Theodore Roosevelt received approval from the US Congress to set up several volunteer divisions for the infantry of the US Army . One of them, known as Roosevelt's World War I volunteers , included Burnham, Seth Bullock, and John M. Parker ; it was scheduled for use in France in 1917 . However, President Woodrow Wilson exercised his right as Commander-in-Chief and forbade the use of volunteers.

In 1927 he was awarded the title of Honorary Scout by the Boy Scouts of America , an award which had been introduced that same year. This award was given to "American citizens who, through their achievements in competition with nature, discoveries and desirable adventures, are of such outstanding character that they inspire the imagination of our youth ..."

Allan Quatermain

Allan Quatermain is a novel character by the English writer Henry Rider Haggard . Haggard was inspired (according to his own statements) by the life and travel reports of the then well-known big game hunter Frederick Courteney Selous and Burnham, on whose life and personality the fictional character is based.

literature

Major Burnham
  • Richard Harding Davis : Real Soldiers of Fortune. Scribner, New York 1906, OCLC 1853901 . E-text in Project Gutenberg
  • Albert Britt: The Boys' Own Book of Adventurers. Burnham, the Last of the Scouts. 1923
  • Scouting on Two Continents. 1926
  • Fra Alaska to Cape: Pionerliv i America's minelejre and på South Africa's højsletter . 1929. (Danish)
  • Skautem ve dvou zemědílech. Díl 2 / Frederick Russell Burnham; Přeložil a upravil H. Jost. V Praze: Česká grafická Unie (1930) - Národní knihovny ČR. (Czech)
  • Lee Shippey, AL Ewing: Folks Ushud Know; Interspersed with Songs of Courage . 1930.
  • Scouting Against the Apache. Zdroje: The Boy Scout's Book of True Adventure, Fourteen Honorary Scouts . 1931.
  • James E. West , Peter O. Lamb: He-who-sees-in-the-dark; the boys' story of Frederick Burnham, the American scout. ilustrátor: Robert Baden-Powell . 1932.
  • Taps for the Great Selous . Zdroje: Hunting Trails on Three Continents. 1933.
  • Taking Chances. 1944.
  • Mary Nixon Everett: Dedication of Mount Burnham. In: The masterkey anthropology of the Americas. v26, n4 (1952)
  • RR Money: Greatest Scout. In: Blackwood's Magazine. v291, January 1962, ISSN  0006-436X , pp. 42-52.
  • RR Money: Tonto Basin Feud. In: Blackwood's Magazine. v291, April 1962, ISSN  0006-436X , pp. 330-341.
  • The Shangani Patrol. (Film) David Millin. National Film, Video and Sound Archives , Pretoria , Republic of South Africa ; Internet Movie Database (1970)
  • JP Lott: Major Burnham of the Shangani Patrol. In: Rhodesiana Magazine , March 1976
  • JP Lott: Major FR Burnham, DSO In: Rhodesiana Magazine. # 36, September 1977.
  • Mary Bradford, Richard Bradford: An American family on the African frontier: the Burnham family letters, 1893-1896. 1993.
  • Peter van Wyk: Burnham: King of Scouts. 2003, ISBN 1-4120-0901-4 .

Web links

Commons : Frederick Russell Burnham  - Album containing pictures, videos and audio files

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ 'Burnham: King of Scouts'
  2. ↑ New York Times, June 25, 1896 issue [1]
  3. ^ A b Frederick Russell Burnham: Taking Chances . Haynes Corp., Los Angeles , California 1944, ISBN 1-879356-32-5 , p. 293.
  4. ↑ J. "Jack" P. Lott: Major FR Burnham, DSO In: Rhodesiana Magazine. 36, March 1977, ISSN  0556-9605 .
  5. ↑ Around the World . In: Time. (magazine), August 29, 1927. Retrieved on October 24, 2007.
personal data
SURNAME Burnham, Frederick Russell
BRIEF DESCRIPTION British officer
DATE OF BIRTH May 11, 1861
PLACE OF BIRTH Tivoli, Minnesota
DATE OF DEATH September 15, 1947
Place of death Three Rivers, California