Ten Months in the Field with the Boers Author: An Ex-Lieutenant of General de Villebois-Mareuil (Anonymously penned by Adjudant-Lieutenant de Brémond)
Ten Months in the Field with the Boers (Collectible 1901 Foreign Volunteer Memoir)
The Intensely Scarce, Crucial, and Fascinating Firsthand Tactical Record of the European Foreign Legions Fighting for the Boer Republics, Penned by a French Adjudant-Lieutenant
Bibliographic Specifications
- Title: Ten Months in the Field with the Boers
- Author: An Ex-Lieutenant of General de Villebois-Mareuil (Anonymously penned by Adjudant-Lieutenant de Brémond)
- Publisher: William Heinemann, London
- Publication Date: 1901
- ISBN-10: None Issued (Pre-ISBN Era)
- ISBN-13: None Issued (Pre-ISBN Era)
- Edition Details: First English Edition, First Printing (Contemporary Trade Release). Translated directly from the original French text.
- Binding: Original publisher's premium green cloth-bound hardcover architectural boards, featuring a gilt-titled spine and a blind-stamped graphic layout on the front panel. Offered as found without a paper dust jacket.
- Physical Format: Octavo (8vo), 248 pages plus publisher's trade catalogue at the rear. Enhanced with an archival portrait frontispiece of General de Villebois-Mareuil protected by tissue-guarding, and a large multi-colored sketch map of the seat of war.
- Language: English
Official Condition Report
- The Book: Good to Very Good (VG)
- Exterior / Covers: Good to Very Good (G/VG). The original publisher's green cloth boards are structurally straight, solid, and square. The panels show honest, standard signs of age-related shelf wear and light handling markings appropriate for a 125-year-old volume. The exterior has been neatly enclosed within a highly presentable, clear schoolbook-type plastic sleeve wrapper, which halts any future surface scuffing and keeps the binding looking very tidy.
- Interior: Good to Very Good (G/VG). The internal text block is solid, tight, and robustly bound. In complete accordance with the typical paper stocks used in London during the late Victorian and early Edwardian era, the book block displays uniform, age-related tanning across all pages. The first couple of preliminary pages exhibit a light, localized fluid stain on the extreme bottom right corner, which fades away quickly and does not encroach upon or obscure any text layout lines. The remaining inner leaves and maps are clean, flat, and perfectly clear.
Synopsis & Historical Value
Published in London in 1901 by William Heinemann while the war was still actively raging, Ten Months in the Field with the Boers is widely considered one of the rarest and most important primary accounts of the foreign volunteer contingents. Written anonymously by a French officer who served as an adjudant-lieutenant under the legendary Colonel-General Georges de Villebois-Mareuil, the volume provides an absolute insider's look at the construction and operational deployment of the famous International Legion (Vreemdelingenlegioen).
Published in London in 1901 by William Heinemann while the war was still actively raging, Ten Months in the Field with the Boers is widely considered one of the rarest and most important primary accounts of the foreign volunteer contingents. Written anonymously by a French officer who served as an adjudant-lieutenant under the legendary Colonel-General Georges de Villebois-Mareuil, the volume provides an absolute insider's look at the construction and operational deployment of the famous International Legion (Vreemdelingenlegioen).
The narrative bypasses British imperial rhetoric to deliver a clinical, highly detached, and strategically fascinating analysis of the war from late 1899 through 1900. The author maps his journey from his arrival in the Transvaal through Delagoa Bay, tracking the foreign legion's operations along the Modder River, the conventional defenses of Bloemfontein, and the chaotic retreats toward Kroonstad.
The diary reaches its tragic climax during the high-stakes Battle of Boshof in April 1900, where the foreign volunteers were surrounded by overwhelming British forces under Lord Methuen, resulting in the death of General de Villebois-Mareuil. The text offers a highly critical view of the command structures, praising the unmatched mobility and marksmanship of individual Boer burghers while lamenting their lack of military discipline and strategic coordination. Highly sought after due to its tiny initial printing run and short trade life, this original 1901 first pressing is an elite cornerstone centerpiece for advanced collections of Anglo-Boer War militaria.
Author Profile: General de Villebois-Mareuil & His Ex-Lieutenant
Colonel-General Georges de Villebois-Mareuil (1847–1900) was a highly distinguished French military strategist, aristocrat, and former commander in the French Foreign Legion who traveled to South Africa out of a deep ideological opposition to British imperial expansion. Appointed as a Combat-General by the ZAR authorities, he was tasked with unifying all European volunteer units—including French, German, Dutch, Russian, and Italian contingents—into a cohesive striking force. His adjudant-lieutenant (de Brémond), who compiled this anonymous diary, was a highly skilled professional regular officer whose clinical operational eye and personal field loyalty captured the raw, tragic realities of the foreign volunteers on the veld.
Colonel-General Georges de Villebois-Mareuil (1847–1900) was a highly distinguished French military strategist, aristocrat, and former commander in the French Foreign Legion who traveled to South Africa out of a deep ideological opposition to British imperial expansion. Appointed as a Combat-General by the ZAR authorities, he was tasked with unifying all European volunteer units—including French, German, Dutch, Russian, and Italian contingents—into a cohesive striking force. His adjudant-lieutenant (de Brémond), who compiled this anonymous diary, was a highly skilled professional regular officer whose clinical operational eye and personal field loyalty captured the raw, tragic realities of the foreign volunteers on the veld.
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