BLAMING BRABANT ANOTHER LOOK AT THE SO-CALLED MILITARY 'DISOBEDIENCE' OF CAPTAIN, LATER MAJOR-GENERAL SIR EDWARD YEWD BRABANT, KCB, CMG

摘要

This paper examines an incident during the Ninth Frontier War when Captain E Y Brabant, the leader of a combined unit against the 'rebellious' Ngqika during action near Keiskamahoek, allegedly disobeyed orders, resulting in the ambush of his corps by the enemy, and the so-called failure of the first offensive organised by the Commander in Chief, Lieutenant-General the Honourable F Thesiger. It was a contentious incident that was reported and interpreted by various officers in their war journals or memoirs, and as such makes interesting comparison, inviting a reconsideration of the popular verdict that Brabant was guilty of impatience, ill-discipline, or a too-yielding disposition. In reading the military histories surrounding this incident, this writer looks at the subjection of agency, and the way this affects the presentation of military 'facts'.