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Description: | A dramatically posed commemorative statue. The uniformed figure of Benson is depicted wearing riding breeches and spurs striding forward, right hand holding binoculars, left hand on waist, his 'attitude...one of eager watchfulness'.(1) The stone pedestal has a gently curved dado and simple entablature. Additional Information: Colonel Benson (1861-1901) was the youngest son of William Benson of a local landed gentry family. As the inscription states, he saw action in various imperial campaigns before distinguishing himself as a clever and bold commander in South Africa. In the action at Bakenlaagte (this is the usual spelling) in the Eastern Transvaal where he met his death, his column was out-manoeuvred by a numerically superior Boer force. More than a quarter of his men were killed and over a third wounded. It has been claimed that Benson himself fell victim to a sniper's bullet when the sun glinted on his binoculars, which, if true, would lend a certain irony to the way the figure in Tweed's statue is presented holding a pair of binoculars.(2) The official history of the South African War, however, is emphatic that the column fought an heroic rear-guard action and Benson himself was especially brave, 'crawling from point to point in the firing line encouraging all around him with a splendid example of coolness and courage', although badly wounded in the knee. 'When the whole tendency of British military policy was to sacrifice enterprise to organisation, he showed an example of fearless initiative. He sought risks with an ardour and obstinacy which were at once his best safeguard and his final justification.'(3) | Subjects: | Sculpture | Source: | Vads | Creator: | Sculptor: Tweed, John Assistant: Rodin, Auguste | Identifier: | http://www.vads.ac.uk/large.php?uid=7534... | Go to resource |
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