Encyclopaedia Britannica, 11th Edition, "Bulgaria" to "Calgary" by Various
1891. At the war office his energy and ability inspired the belief that he
7906 words | Chapter 5
was fitted for the highest command, and in 1895, when the duke of Cambridge
was about to retire, it was well known that Lord Rosebery's cabinet
intended to appoint Sir Redvers as chief of the staff under a scheme of
reorganization recommended by Lord Hartington's commission. On the eve of
this change, however, the government was defeated, and its successors
appointed Lord Wolseley to the command under the old title of
commander-in-chief. In 1896 he was made a full general.
In 1898 he took command of the troops at Aldershot, and when the Boer War
broke out in 1899 he was selected to command the South African Field Force
(see TRANSVAAL), and landed [v.04 p.0789] at Cape Town on the 31st of
October. Owing to the Boer investment of Ladysmith and the consequent
gravity of the military situation in Natal, he unexpectedly hurried thither
in order to supervise personally the operations, but on the 15th of
December his first attempt to cross the Tugela at Colenso (see LADYSMITH)
was repulsed. The government, alarmed at the situation and the pessimistic
tone of Buller's messages, sent out Lord Roberts to supersede him in the
chief command, Sir Redvers being left in subordinate command of the Natal
force. His second attempt to relieve Ladysmith (January 10-27) proved
another failure, the result of the operations at Spion Kop (January 24)
causing consternation in England. A third attempt (Vaalkrantz, February
5-7) was unsuccessful, but the Natal army finally accomplished its task in
the series of actions which culminated in the victory of Pieter's Hill and
the relief of Ladysmith on the 27th of February. Sir Redvers Buller
remained in command of the Natal army till October 1900, when he returned
to England (being created G.C.M.G.), having in the meanwhile slowly done a
great deal of hard work in driving the Boers from the Biggarsberg (May 15),
forcing Lang's Nek (June 12), and occupying Lydenburg (September 6). But
though these latter operations had done much to re-establish his reputation
for dogged determination, and he had never lost the confidence of his own
men, his capacity for an important command in delicate and difficult
operations was now seriously questioned. The continuance, therefore, in
1901 of his appointment to the important Aldershot command met with a
vigorous press criticism, in which the detailed objections taken to his
conduct of the operations before Ladysmith (and particularly to a message
to Sir George White in which he seriously contemplated and provided for the
contingency of surrender) were given new prominence. On the 10th of October
1901, at a luncheon in London, Sir Redvers Buller made a speech in answer
to these criticisms in terms which were held to be a breach of discipline,
and he was placed on half-pay a few days later. For the remaining years of
his life he played an active part as a country gentleman, accepting in
dignified silence the prolonged attacks on his failures in South Africa;
among the public generally, and particularly in his own county, he never
lost his popularity. He died on the 2nd of June 1908. He had married in
1882 Lady Audrey, daughter of the 4th Marquess Townshend, who survived him
with one daughter.
A _Memoir_, by Lewis Butler, was published in 1909.
BULLET (Fr. _boulet_, diminutive of _boule_, ball). The original meaning (a
"small ball") has, since the end of the 16th century, been narrowed down to
the special case of the projectile used with small arms of all kinds,
irrespective of its size or shape. (For details see AMMUNITION; GUN; RIFLE,
&c.)
BULL-FIGHTING, the national Spanish sport. The Spanish name is
_tauromaquia_ (Gr. [Greek: tauros], bull, and [Greek: machê], combat).
Combats with bulls were common in ancient Thessaly as well as in the
amphitheatres of imperial Rome, but probably partook more of the nature of
worrying than fighting, like the bull-baiting formerly common in England.
The Moors of Africa also possessed a sport of this kind, and it is probable
that they introduced it into Andalusia when they conquered that province.
It is certain that they held bull-fights in the half-ruined Roman
amphitheatres of Merida, Cordova, Tarragona, Toledo and other places, and
that these constituted the favourite sport of the Moorish chieftains.
Although patriotic tradition names the great Cid himself as the original
Spanish bull-fighter, it is probable that the first Spaniard to kill a bull
in the arena was Don Rodrigo Diaz de Vivar, who about 1040, employing the
lance, which remained for centuries the chief weapon used in the sport,
proved himself superior to the flower of the Moorish knights. A spirited
rivalry in the art between the Christian and Moorish warriors resulted, in
which even the kings of Castile and other Spanish princes took an ardent
interest. After the Moors were driven from Spain by Ferdinand II.,
bull-fighting continued to be the favourite sport of the aristocracy, the
method of fighting being on horseback with the lance. At the time of the
accession of the house of Austria it had become an indispensable accessory
of every court function, and Charles V. ensured his popularity with the
people by killing a bull with his own lance on the birthday of his son,
Philip II. Philip IV. is also known to have taken a personal part in
bull-fights. During this period the lance was discarded in favour of the
short spear (_rejoncillo_), and the leg armour still worn by the
_picadores_ was introduced. The accession of the house of Bourbon witnessed
a radical transformation in the character of the bullfight, which the
aristocracy began gradually to neglect, admitting to the combats
professional subordinates who, by the end of the 17th century, had become
the only active participants in the bull-ring. The first great professional
_espada_ (_i.e._ swordsman, the chief bull-fighter, who actually kills the
bull) was Francisco Romero, of Ronda in Andalusia (about 1700), who
introduced the _estoque_, the sword still used to kill the bull, and the
_muleta_, the red flag carried by the _espada_ (see below), the spear
falling into complete disuse.
For the past two centuries the art of bull-fighting has developed gradually
into the spectacle of to-day. Imitations of the Spanish bull-fights have
been repeatedly introduced into France and Italy, but the cruelty of the
sport has prevented its taking firm root. In Portugal a kind of
bull-baiting is practised, in which neither man nor beast is much hurt, the
bulls having their horns truncated and padded and never being killed. In
Spain many vain attempts have been made to abolish the sport, by Ferdinand
II. himself, instigated by his wife Isabella, by Charles III., by Ferdinand
VI., and by Charles IV.; and several popes placed its devotees under the
ban of excommunication with no perceptible effect upon its popularity.
Before the introduction of railways there were comparatively few bull-rings
(_plazas de toros_) in Spain, but these have largely multiplied in recent
years, in both Spain and Spanish America. At the present day nearly every
larger town and city in Spain has its _plaza de toros_ (about 225
altogether), built in the form of the Roman circuses with an oval open
arena covered with sand, surrounded by a stout fence about 6 ft. high.
Between this and the seats of the spectators is a narrow passage-way, where
those bull-fighters who are not at the moment engaged take their stations.
The _plazas de toros_ are of all sizes, from that of Madrid, which holds
more than 12,000 spectators, down to those seating only two or three
thousand. Every bull-ring has its hospital for the wounded, and its chapel
where the _toreros_ (bull-fighters) receive the Holy Eucharist.
The bulls used for fighting are invariably of well-known lineage and are
reared in special establishments (_vacádas_), the most celebrated of which
is now that of the duke of Veragua in Andalusia. When quite young they are
branded with the emblems of their owners, and later are put to a test of
their courage, only those that show a fighting spirit being trained
further. When full grown, the health, colour, weight, character of horns,
and action in attack are all objects of the keenest observation and study.
The best bulls are worth from £40 to £60. About 1300 bulls are killed
annually in Spain. Bull-fighters proper, most of whom are Andalusians,
consist of _espadas_ (or _matadores_), _banderilleros_ and _picadores_, in
addition to whom there are numbers of assistants (_chulos_), drivers and
other servants. For each bull-fight two or three _espadas_ are engaged,
each providing his own quadrille (_cuadrilla_), composed of several
_banderilleros_ and _picadores_. Six bulls are usually killed during one
_corrida_ (bull-fight), the _espadas_ engaged taking them in turn. The
_espada_ must have passed through a trying novitiate in the art at the
royal school of bull-fighting, after which he is given his _alternativa_,
or licence.
The bull-fight begins with a grand entry of all the bull-fighters with
_alguaciles_, municipal officers in ancient costume, at the head, followed,
in three rows, by the _espadas, banderilleros, picadores, chulos_ and the
richly caparisoned triple mule-team used to drag from the arena the
carcasses of the slain bulls and horses. The greatest possible brilliance
of costume and accoutrements is aimed at, and the picture presented is one
of dazzling colour. The _espadas_ and _banderilleros_ wear short jackets
and small-clothes of satin richly embroidered in gold and silver, with
[v.04 p.0790] light silk stockings and heelless shoes; the _picadores_
(pikemen on horseback) usually wear yellow, and their legs are enclosed in
steel armour covered with leather as a protection against the horns of the
bull.
The fight is divided into three divisions (_suertes_). When the opening
procession has passed round the arena the president of the _corrida_,
usually some person of rank, throws down to one of the _alguaciles_ the key
to the _toril_, or bull-cells. As soon as the supernumeraries have left the
ring, and the _picadores_, mounted upon blindfolded horses in wretched
condition, have taken their places against the barrier, the door of the
_toril_ is opened, and the bull, which has been goaded into fury by the
affixing to his shoulder of an iron pin with streamers of the colours of
his breeder attached, enters the ring. Then begins the _suerte de picar_,
or division of lancing. The bull at once attacks the mounted _picadores_,
ripping up and wounding the horses, often to the point of complete
disembowelment. As the bull attacks the horse, the _picador_, who is armed
with a short-pointed, stout pike (_garrocha_), thrusts this into the bull's
back with all his force, with the usual result that the bull turns its
attention to another _picador_. Not infrequently, however, the rush of the
bull and the blow dealt to the horse is of such force as to overthrow both
animal and rider, but the latter is usually rescued from danger by the
_chulos_ and _banderilleros_, who, by means of their red cloaks (_capas_),
divert the bull from the fallen _picador_, who either escapes from the ring
or mounts a fresh horse. The number of horses killed in this manner is one
of the chief features of the fight, a bull's prowess being reckoned
accordingly. About 6000 horses are killed every year in Spain. At the sound
of a trumpet the _picadores_ retire from the ring, the dead horses are
dragged out, and the second division of the fight, the _suerte de
banderillear_, or planting the darts, begins. The _banderillas_ are barbed
darts about 18 in. long, ornamented with coloured paper, one being held in
each hand of the bull-fighter, who, standing 20 or 30 yds. from the bull,
draws its attention to him by means of violent gestures. As the bull
charges, the _banderillero_ steps towards him, dexterously plants both
darts in the beast's neck, and draws aside in the nick of time to avoid its
horns. Four pairs of _banderillas_ are planted in this way, rendering the
bull mad with rage and pain. Should the animal prove of a cowardly nature
and refuse to attack repeatedly, _banderillas de fuego_ (fire) are used.
These are furnished with fulminating crackers, which explode with terrific
noise as the bull careers about the ring. During this division numerous
manoeuvres are sometimes indulged in for the purpose of tiring the bull
out, such as leaping between his horns, vaulting over his back with the
_garrocha_ as he charges, and inviting his rushes by means of elaborate
flauntings of the cloak (_floréos_, flourishes).
Another trumpet-call gives the signal for the final division of the fight,
the _suerte de matár_ (killing). This is carried out by the _espada_,
alone, his assistants being present only in the case of emergency or to get
the bull back to the proper part of the ring, should he bolt to a distance.
The _espada_, taking his stand before the box of the president, holds aloft
in his left hand sword and _muleta_ and in his right his hat, and in set
phrases formally dedicates (_brinde_) the death of the bull to the
president or some other personage of rank, finishing by tossing his hat
behind his back and proceeding bareheaded to the work of killing the bull.
This is a process accompanied by much formality. The _espada_, armed with
the _estoque_, a sword with a heavy flat blade, brings the bull into the
proper position by means of passes with the _muleta_, a small red silk flag
mounted on a short staff, and then essays to kill him with a single thrust,
delivered through the back of the neck close to the head and downward into
the heart. This stroke is a most difficult one, requiring long practice as
well as great natural dexterity, and very frequently fails of its object,
the killing of the bull often requiring repeated thrusts. The stroke
(_estocada_) is usually given _á volapié_ (half running), the _espada_
delivering the thrust while stepping forward, the bull usually standing
still. Another method is _recibiéndo_ (receiving), the _espada_ receiving
the onset of the bull upon the point of his sword. Should the bull need a
_coup de grâce_, it is given by a _chulo_, called _puntilléro_, with a
dagger which pierces the spinal marrow. The dead beast is then dragged out
of the ring by the triple mule-team, while the _espada_ makes a tour of
honour, being acclaimed, in the case of a favourite, with the most
extravagant enthusiasm. The ring is then raked over, a second bull is
introduced, and the spectacle begins anew. Upon great occasions, such as a
coronation, a _corrida_ in the ancient style is given by amateurs, who are
clad in gala costumes without armour of any kind, and mounted upon steeds
of good breed and condition. They are armed with sharp lances, with which
they essay to kill the bull while protecting themselves and their steeds
from his horns. As the bulls in these encounters have not been weakened by
many wounds and tired out by much running, the performances of the
gentlemen fighters are remarkable for pluck and dexterity.
See Moratin, _Origen y Progeso de las Fiestas de Toros_; Bedoya's _Historia
del Toreo_; J.S. Lozano, _Manual de Tauromaquia_ (Seville, 1882); A.
Chapman and W.T. Buck, _Wild Spain_ (London, 1893).
BULLFINCH (_Pyrrhula vulgaris_), the ancient English name given to a bird
belonging to the family _Fringillidae_ (see FINCH), of a bluish-grey and
black colour above, and generally of a bright tile-red beneath, the female
differing chiefly in having its under-parts chocolate-brown. It is a shy
bird, not associating with other species, and frequents well-wooded
districts, being very rarely seen on moors or other waste lands. It builds
a shallow nest composed of twigs lined with fibrous roots, on low trees or
thick underwood, only a few feet from the ground, and lays four or five
eggs of a bluish-white colour speckled and streaked with purple. The young
remain with their parents during autumn and winter, and pair in spring, not
building their nests, however, till May. In spring and summer they feed on
the buds of trees and bushes, choosing, it is said, such only as contain
the incipient blossom, and thus doing immense injury to orchards and
gardens. In autumn and winter they feed principally on wild fruits and on
seeds. The note of the bullfinch, in the wild state, is soft and pleasant,
but so low as scarcely to be audible; it possesses, however, great powers
of imitation, and considerable memory, and can thus be taught to whistle a
variety of tunes. Bullfinches are very abundant in the forests of Germany,
and it is there that most of the piping bullfinches are trained. They are
taught continuously for nine months, and the lesson is repeated throughout
the first moulting, as during that change the young birds are apt to forget
all that they have previously acquired. The bullfinch is a native of the
northern countries of Europe, occurring in Italy and other southern parts
only as a winter visitor. White and black varieties are occasionally met
with; the latter are often produced by feeding the bullfinch exclusively on
hempseed, when its plumage gradually changes to black. It rarely breeds in
confinement, and hybrids between it and the canary have been produced on
but few occasions.
BULLI, a town of Camden county, New South Wales, Australia, 59 m. by rail
S. of Sydney. Pop. (1901) 2500. It is the headquarters of the Bulli Mining
Company, whose coal-mine on the flank of the Illawarra Mountains is worked
by a tunnel, 2 m. long, driven into the heart of the mountain. From this
tunnel the coal is conveyed by rail for 1½ m. to a pier, whence it is
shipped to Sydney, Melbourne and Brisbane by a fleet of steam colliers. The
beautiful Bulli Pass, 1000 ft. above the sea, over the Illawarra range, is
one of the most attractive tourist resorts in Australia.
BULLINGER, HEINRICH (1504-1575), Swiss reformer, son of Dean Heinrich
Bullinger by his wife Anna (Wiederkehr), was born at Bremgarten, Aargau, on
the 18th of July 1504. He studied at Emmerich and Cologne, where the
teaching of Peter Lombard led him, through Augustine and Chrysostom, to
first-hand study of the Bible. Next the writings of Luther and Melanchthon
appealed to him. Appointed teacher (1522) in the cloister school of Cappel,
he lectured on Melanchthon's _Loci Communes_ (1521). He heard Zwingli at
Zürich in 1527, and next year accompanied him to the disputation at Berne.
He was made pastor of Bremgarten in 1529, and married Anna Adlischweiler, a
nun, by whom he had eleven children. After the battle [v.04 p.0791] of
Cappel (11th of October 1531), in which Zwingli fell, he left Bremgarten.
On the 9th of December 1531 he was chosen to succeed Zwingli as chief
pastor of Zürich. A strong writer and thinker, his spirit was essentially
unifying and sympathetic, in an age when these qualities won little
sympathy. His controversies on the Lord's Supper with Luther, and his
correspondence with Lelio Sozini (see SOCINUS), exhibit, in different
connexions, his admirable mixture of dignity and tenderness. With Calvin he
concluded (1549) the _Consensus Tigurinus_ on the Lord's Supper. The
(second) Helvetic Confession (1566) adopted in Switzerland, Hungary,
Bohemia and elsewhere, was his work. The volumes of the _Zurich Letters_,
published by the Parker Society, testify to his influence on the English
reformation in later stages. Many of his sermons were translated into
English (reprinted, 4 vols., 1849). His works, mainly expository and
polemical, have not been collected. He died at Zürich on the 17th of
September 1575.
See Carl Pestalozzi, _Leben_ (1858); Raget Christoffel, _H. Bullinger_
(1875); Justus Heer, in Hauck's _Realencyklopadie_ (1897).
(A. GO.*)
BULLION, a term applied to the gold and silver of the mines brought to a
standard of purity. The word appears in an English act of 1336 in the
French form "puissent sauvement porter à les exchanges ou bullion ...
argent en plate, vessel d'argent, &c."; and apparently it is connected with
_bouillon_, the sense of "boiling" being transferred in English to the
melting of metal, so that _bullion_ in the passage quoted meant
"melting-house" or "mint." The first recorded instance of the use of the
word for precious metal as such in the mass is in an act of 1451. From the
use of gold and silver as a medium of exchange, it followed that they
should approximate in all nations to a common degree of fineness; and
though this is not uniform even in coins, yet the proportion of alloy in
silver, and of carats alloy to carats fine in gold, has been reduced to
infinitesimal differences in the bullion of commerce, and is a prime
element of value even in gold and silver plate, jewelry, and other articles
of manufacture. Bullion, whether in the form of coins, or of bars and
ingots stamped, is subject, as a general rule of the London market, not
only to weight but to assay, and receives a corresponding value.
BULLOCK, WILLIAM (c. 1657-c. 1740), English actor, "of great glee and much
comic vivacity," was the original Clincher in Farquhar's _Constant Couple_
(1699), Boniface in _The Beaux' Stratagem_ (1707), and Sir Francis Courtall
in Pavener's _Artful Wife_ (1717). He played at all the London theatres of
his time, and in the summer at a booth at Bartholomew Fair. He had three
sons, all actors, of whom the eldest was Christopher Bullock (c.
1690-1724), who at Drury Lane, the Haymarket and Lincoln's Inn Fields
displayed "a considerable versatility of talent." Christopher created a few
original parts in comedies and farces of which he was the author or
adapter:--_A Woman's Revenge_ (1715); _Slip_; _Adventures of Half an Hour_
(1716); _The Cobbler of Preston_; _Woman's a Riddle_; _The Perjurer_
(1717); and _The Traitor_ (1718).
BULLROARER, the English name for an instrument made of a small flat slip of
wood, through a hole in one end of which a string is passed; swung round
rapidly it makes a booming, humming noise. Though treated as a toy by
Europeans, the bullroarer has had the highest mystic significance and
sanctity among primitive people. This is notably the case in Australia,
where it figures in the initiation ceremonies and is regarded with the
utmost awe by the "blackfellows." Their bullroarers, or sacred "tunduns,"
are of two types, the "grandfather" or "man tundun," distinguished by its
deep tone, and the "woman tundun," which, being smaller, gives forth a
weaker, shriller note. Women or girls, and boys before initiation, are
never allowed to see the tundun. At the Bora, or initiation ceremonies, the
bullroarer's hum is believed to be the voice of the "Great Spirit," and on
hearing it the women hide in terror. A Maori bullroarer is preserved in the
British Museum, and travellers in Africa state that it is known and held
sacred there. Thus among the Egba tribe of the Yoruba race the supposed
"Voice of Oro," their god of vengeance, is produced by a bullroarer, which
is actually worshipped as the god himself. The sanctity of the bullroarer
has been shown to be very widespread. There is no doubt that the rhombus
[Greek: rhombos] which was whirled at the Greek mysteries was one. Among
North American Indians it was common. At certain Moqui ceremonies the
procession of dancers was led by a priest who whirled a bullroarer. The
instrument has been traced among the Tusayan, Apache and Navaho Indians
(J.G. Bourke, _Ninth Annual Report of Bureau of Amer. Ethnol._, 1892),
among the Koskimo of British Columbia (Fr. Boas, "Social Organization, &c.,
of the Kwakiutl Indians," _Report of the U.S. National Museum for 1895_),
and in Central Brazil. In New Guinea, in some of the islands of the Torres
Straits (where it is swung as a fishing-charm), in Ceylon (where it is used
as a toy and figures as a sacred instrument at Buddhist festivals), and in
Sumatra (where it is used to induce the demons to carry off the soul of a
woman, and so drive her mad), the bullroarer is also found. Sometimes, as
among the Minangkabos of Sumatra, it is made of the frontal bone of a man
renowned for his bravery.
See A. Lang, _Custom and Myth_ (1884); J.D.E. Schmeltz, _Das Schwirrholz_
(Hamburg, 1896); A.C. Haddon, _The Study of Man_, and in the _Journ.
Anthrop. Instit._ xix., 1890; G.M.C. Theal, _Kaffir Folk-Lore_; A.B. Ellis,
_Yoruba-Speaking Peoples_ (1894); R.C. Codrington, _The Melanesians_
(1891).
BULL RUN, a small stream of Virginia, U.S.A., which gave the name to two
famous battles in the American Civil War.
(1) The first battle of Bull Run (called by the Confederates Manassas) was
fought on the 21st of July 1861 between the Union forces under
Brigadier-General Irvin McDowell and the Confederates under General Joseph
E. Johnston. Both armies were newly raised and almost untrained. After a
slight action on the 18th at Blackburn's Ford, the two armies prepared for
a battle. The Confederates were posted along Bull Run, guarding all the
passages from the Stone Bridge down to the railway bridge. McDowell's
forces rendezvoused around Centreville, and both commanders, sensible of
the temper of their troops, planned a battle for the 21st. On his part
McDowell ordered one of his four divisions to attack the Stone Bridge, two
to make a turning movement via Sudley Springs, the remaining division
(partly composed of regular troops) was to be in reserve and to watch the
lower fords. The local Confederate commander, Brigadier-General P.G.T.
Beauregard, had also intended to advance, and General Johnston, who arrived
by rail on the evening of the 20th with the greater part of a fresh army,
and now assumed command of the whole force, approved an offensive movement
against Centreville for the 21st; but orders miscarried, and the Federal
attack opened before the movement had begun. Johnston and Beauregard then
decided to fight a defensive battle, and hurried up troops to support the
single brigade of Evans which held the Stone Bridge. Thus there was no
serious fighting at the lower fords of Bull Run throughout the day.
[Illustration]
The Federal staff was equally inexperienced, and the divisions [v.04
p.0792] engaged in the turning movement met with many unnecessary checks.
At 6 A.M., when the troops told off for the frontal attack appeared before
the Stone Bridge, the turning movement was by no means well advanced. Evans
had time to change position so as to command both the Stone Bridge and
Sudley Springs, and he was promptly supported by the brigades of Bee,
Bartow and T.J. Jackson. About 9.30 the leading Federal brigade from Sudley
Springs came into action, and two hours later Evans, Bee and Bartow had
been driven off the Matthews hill in considerable confusion. But on the
Henry House hill Jackson's brigade stood, as General Bee said to his men,
"like a stone wall," and the defenders rallied, though the Federals were
continually reinforced. The fighting on the Henry House hill was very
severe, but McDowell, who dared not halt to re-form his enthusiastic
volunteers, continued to attack. About 1.30 P.M. he brought up two regular
batteries to the fighting line; but a Confederate regiment, being mistaken
for friendly troops and allowed to approach, silenced the guns by close
rifle fire, and from that time, though the hill was taken and retaken
several times, the Federal attack made no further headway. At 2.45 more of
Beauregard's troops had come up; Jackson's brigade charged with the
bayonet, and at the same time the Federals were assailed in flank by the
last brigades of Johnston's army, which arrived at the critical moment from
the railway. They gave way at once, tired out, and conscious that the day
was lost, and after one rally melted away slowly to the rear, the handful
of regulars alone keeping their order. But when, at the defile of the Cub
Run, they came under shell fire the retreat became a panic flight to the
Potomac. The victors were too much exhausted to pursue, and the U.S.
regulars of the reserve division formed a strong and steady rearguard. The
losses were--Federals, 2896 men out of about 18,500 engaged; Confederates,
1982 men out of 18,000.
(2) The operations of the last days of August 1862, which include the
second battle of Bull Run (second Manassas), are amongst the most
complicated of the war. At the outset the Confederate general Lee's army
(Longstreet's and Jackson's corps) lay on the Rappahannock, faced by the
Federal Army of Virginia under Major-General John Pope, which was to be
reinforced by troops from McClellan's army to a total strength of 150,000
men as against Lee's 60,000. Want of supplies soon forced Lee to move,
though not to retreat, and his plan for attacking Pope was one of the most
daring in all military history. Jackson with half the army was despatched
on a wide turning movement which was to bring him via Salem and
Thoroughfare Gap to Manassas Junction in Pope's rear; when Jackson's task
was accomplished Lee and Longstreet were to follow him by the same route.
Early on the 25th of August Jackson began his march round the right of
Pope's army; on the 26th the column passed Thoroughfare Gap, and Bristoe
Station, directly in Pope's rear, was reached on the same evening, while a
detachment drove a Federal post from Manassas Junction. On the 27th the
immense magazines at the Junction were destroyed. On his side Pope had soon
discovered Jackson's departure, and had arranged for an immediate attack on
Longstreet. When, however, the direction of Jackson's march on Thoroughfare
Gap became clear, Pope fell back in order to engage him, at the same time
ordering his army to concentrate on Warrenton, Greenwich and Gainesville.
He was now largely reinforced. On the evening of the 27th one of his
divisions, marching to its point of concentration, met a division of
Jackson's corps, near Bristoe Station; after a sharp fight the Confederate
general, Ewell, retired on Manassas. Pope now realized that he had
Jackson's corps in front of him at the Junction, and at once took steps to
attack Manassas with all his forces. He drew off even the corps at
Gainesville for his intended battle of the 28th; McDowell, however, its
commander, on his own responsibility, left Ricketts's division at
Thoroughfare Gap. But Pope's blow was struck in the air. When he arrived at
Manassas on the 28th he found nothing but the ruins of his magazines, and
one of McDowell's divisions (King's) marching from Gainesville on Manassas
Junction met Jackson's infantry near Groveton. The situation had again
changed completely. Jackson had no intention of awaiting Pope at Manassas,
and after several feints made with a view to misleading the Federal scouts
he finally withdrew to a hidden position between Groveton and Sudley
Springs, to await the arrival of Longstreet, who, taking the same route as
Jackson had done, arrived on the 28th at Thoroughfare Gap and, engaging
Ricketts's division, finally drove it back to Gainesville. On the evening
of this day Jackson's corps held the line Sudley Springs-Groveton, his
right wing near Groveton opposing King's division; and Longstreet held
Thoroughfare Gap, facing Ricketts at Gainesville. On Ricketts's right was
King near Groveton, and the line was continued thence by McDowell's
remaining division and by Sigel's corps to the Stone Bridge. At
Centreville, 7 m. away, was Pope with three divisions, a fourth was
north-east of Manassas Junction, and Porter's corps at Bristoe Station.
Thus, while Ricketts continued at Gainesville to mask Longstreet, Pope
could concentrate a superior force against Jackson, whom he now believed to
be meditating a retreat to the Gap. But a series of misunderstandings
resulted in the withdrawal of Ricketts and King, so that nothing now
intervened between Longstreet and Jackson; while Sigel and McDowell's other
division alone remained to face Jackson until such time as Pope could bring
up the rest of his scattered forces. Jackson now closed on his left and
prepared for battle, and on the morning of the 29th the Confederates,
posted behind a high railway embankment, repelled two sharp attacks made by
Sigel. Pope arrived at noon with the divisions from Centreville, which, led
by the general himself and by Reno and Hooker, two of the bravest officers
in the Union army, made a third and most desperate attack on Jackson's
line. The latter, repulsing it with difficulty, carried its counter-stroke
too far and was in turn repulsed by Grover's brigade of Hooker's division.
Grover then made a fourth assault, but was driven back with terrible loss.
The last assault, gallantly delivered by two divisions under Kearny and
Stevens, drove the Confederate left out of its position; but a Confederate
counter-attack, led by the brave Jubal Early, dislodged the assailants with
the bayonet.
In the meanwhile events had taken place near Groveton which were, for
twenty years after the war, the subject of controversy and recrimination
(see PORTER, FITZ-JOHN). When Porter's and part of McDowell's corps, acting
on various orders sent by Pope, approached Gainesville from the south-east,
Longstreet had already reached that place, and the Federals thus
encountered a force of unknown strength at the moment when Sigel's guns to
the northward showed him to be closely engaged with Jackson. The two
generals consulted, and McDowell marched off to join Sigel, while Porter
remained to hold the new enemy in check. In this he succeeded; Longstreet,
though far superior in numbers, made no forward move, and his advanced
guard alone came into action. On the night of the 29th Lee reunited the
wings of his army on the field of battle. He had forced Pope back many
miles from the Rappahannock, and expecting that the Federals would retire
to the line of Bull Run before giving battle, he now decided to wait for
the last divisions of Longstreet's corps, which were still distant. But
Pope, still sanguine, ordered a "general pursuit" of Jackson for the 30th.
There was some ground for his suppositions, for Jackson had retired a short
distance and Longstreet's advanced guard had also fallen back. McDowell,
however, who was in general charge of the Federal right on the 30th, soon
saw that Jackson was not retreating and stopped the "pursuit," and the
attack on Jackson's right, which Pope had ordered Porter to make, was
repulsed by Longstreet's overwhelming forces. Then Lee's whole line, 4 m.
long, made its grand counter-stroke (4 P.M.). There was now no hesitation
in Longstreet's attack; the Federal left was driven successively from every
position it took up, and Longstreet finally captured Bald Hill. Jackson,
though opposed by the greater part of Pope's forces, advanced to the
Matthews hill, and his artillery threatened the Stone Bridge. The Federals,
driven back to the banks of Bull Run, were only saved by the gallant
defence of the Henry House hill by the Pennsylvanian division of Reynolds
and the regulars [v.04 p.0793] under Sykes. Pope withdrew under cover of
night to Centreville. Here he received fresh reinforcements, but Jackson
was already marching round his new right, and after the action of Chantilly
(1st of September) the whole Federal army fell back to Washington. The
Union forces present on the field on the 29th and 30th numbered about
63,000, the strength of Lee's army being on the same dates about 54,000.
Besides their killed and wounded the Federals lost very heavily in
prisoners.
BULLY (of uncertain origin, but possibly connected with a Teutonic word
seen in many compounds, as the Low Ger. _bullerjaan_, meaning "noisy"; the
word has also, with less probability, been derived from the Dutch _boel_,
and Ger. _Buhle_, a lover), originally a fine, swaggering fellow, as in
"Bully Bottom" in _A Midsummer Night's Dream_, later an overbearing
ruffian, especially a coward who abuses his strength by ill-treating the
weak; more technically a _souteneur_, a man who lives on the earnings of a
prostitute. The term in its early use of "fine" or "splendid" survives in
American slang.
BÜLOW, BERNHARD ERNST VON (1815-1879), Danish and German statesman, was the
son of Adolf von Bülow, a Danish official, and was born at Cismar in
Holstein on the 2nd of August 1815. He studied law at the universities of
Berlin, Göttingen and Kiel, and began his political career in the service
of Denmark, in the chancery of Schleswig-Holstein-Lauenburg at Copenhagen,
and afterwards in the foreign office. In 1842 he became councillor of
legation, and in 1847 Danish _chargé d'affaires_ in the Hanse towns, where
his intercourse with the merchant princes led to his marriage in 1848 with
a wealthy heiress, Louise Victorine Rücker. When the insurrection broke out
in the Elbe duchies (1848) he left the Danish service, and offered his
services to the provisional government of Kiel, an offer that was not
accepted. In 1849, accordingly, he re-entered the service of Denmark, was
appointed a royal chamberlain and in 1850 sent to represent the duchies of
Schleswig and Holstein at the restored federal diet of Frankfort. Here he
came into intimate touch with Bismarck, who admired his statesmanlike
handling of the growing complications of the Schleswig-Holstein Question.
With the radical "Eider-Dane" party he was utterly out of sympathy; and
when, in 1862, this party gained the upper hand, he was recalled from
Frankfort. He now entered the service of the grand-duke of
Mecklenburg-Strelitz, and remained at the head of the grand-ducal
government until 1867, when he became plenipotentiary for the two
Mecklenburg duchies in the council of the German Confederation (Bundesrat),
where he distinguished himself by his successful defence of the medieval
constitution of the duchies against Liberal attacks. In 1873 Bismarck, who
was in thorough sympathy with his views, persuaded him to enter the service
of Prussia as secretary of state for foreign affairs, and from this time
till his death he was the chancellor's most faithful henchman. In 1875 he
was appointed Prussian plenipotentiary in the Bundesrat; in 1877 he became
Bismarck's lieutenant in the secretaryship for foreign affairs of the
Empire; and in 1878 he was, with Bismarck and Hohenlohe, Prussian
plenipotentiary at the congress of Berlin. He died at Frankfort on the 20th
of October 1879, his end being hastened by his exertions in connexion with
the political crisis of that year. Of his six sons the eldest, Bernhard
Heinrich Karl (see below), became chancellor of the Empire.
See the biography of H. von Petersdorff in _Allgemeine deutsche
Biographie_, Band 47, p. 350.
BÜLOW, BERNHARD HEINRICH KARL MARTIN, PRINCE VON (1849- ), German
statesman, was born on the 3rd of May 1849, at Klein-Flottbeck, in
Holstein. The Bülow family is one very widely extended in north Germany,
and many members have attained distinction in the civil and military
service of Prussia, Denmark and Mecklenburg. Prince Bülow's great-uncle,
Heinrich von Bülow, who was distinguished for his admiration of England and
English institutions, was Prussian ambassador in England from 1827 to 1840,
and married a daughter of Wilhelm von Humboldt (see the letters of
Gabrielle von Bülow). His father, Bernhard Ernst von Bülow, is separately
noticed above.
Prince Bülow must not be confused with his contemporary Otto v. Bülow
(1827-1901), an official in the Prussian foreign office, who in 1882 was
appointed German envoy at Bern, from 1892 to 1898 was Prussian envoy to the
Vatican, and died at Rome on the 22nd of November 1901.
Bernhard von Bülow, after serving in the Franco-Prussian War, entered the
Prussian civil service, and was then transferred to the diplomatic service.
In 1876 he was appointed attaché to the German embassy in Paris, and after
returning for a while to the foreign office at Berlin, became second
secretary to the embassy in Paris in 1880. From 1884 he was first secretary
to the embassy at St Petersburg, and acted as _chargé d'affaires_; in 1888
he was appointed envoy at Bucharest, and in 1893 to the post of German
ambassador at Rome. In 1897, on the retirement of Baron Marshall von
Bieberstein, he was appointed secretary of state for foreign affairs (the
same office which his father had held) under Prince Hohenlohe, with a seat
in the Prussian ministry. The appointment caused much surprise at the time,
as Bülow was little known outside diplomatic circles. The explanations
suggested were that he had made himself very popular at Rome and that his
appointment was therefore calculated to strengthen the loosening bonds of
the Triple Alliance, and also that his early close association with
Bismarck would ensure the maintenance of the Bismarckian tradition. As
foreign secretary Herr von Bülow was chiefly responsible for carrying out
the policy of colonial expansion with which the emperor had identified
himself, and in 1899, on bringing to a successful conclusion the
negotiations by which the Caroline Islands were acquired by Germany, he was
raised to the rank of count. On the resignation of Hohenlohe in 1900 he was
chosen to succeed him as chancellor of the empire and president of the
Prussian ministry.
The _Berliner Neueste Nachrichten_, commenting on this appointment, very
aptly characterized the relations of the new chancellor to the emperor, in
contrast to the position occupied by Bismarck. "The Germany of William
II.," it said, "does not admit a Titan in the position of the highest
official of the Empire. A cautious and versatile diplomatist like Bernhard
von Bülow appears to be best adapted to the personal and political
necessities of the present situation." Count Bülow, indeed, though, like
Bismarck, a "realist," utilitarian and opportunist in his policy, made no
effort to emulate the masterful independence of the great chancellor. He
was accused, indeed, of being little more than the complacent executor of
the emperor's will, and defended himself in the Reichstag against the
charge. The substance of the relations between the emperor and himself, he
declared, rested on mutual good-will, and added: "I must lay it down most
emphatically that the prerogative of the emperor's personal initiative must
not be curtailed, and will not be curtailed, by any chancellor.... As
regards the chancellor, however, I say that no imperial chancellor worthy
of the name ... would take up any position which in his conscience he did
not regard as justifiable." It is clear that the position of a chancellor
holding these views in relation to a ruler so masterful and so impulsive as
the emperor William II. could be no easy one; and Bülow's long continuance
in office is the best proof of his genius. His first conspicuous act as
chancellor was a masterly defence in the Reichstag of German action in
China, a defence which was, indeed, rendered easier by the fact that Prince
Hohenlohe had--to use his own words--"dug a canal" for the flood of
imperial ambition of which warning had been given in the famous "mailed
fist" speech. Such incidents as this, however, though they served to
exhibit consummate tact and diplomatic skill, give little index to the
fundamental character of his work as chancellor. Of this it may be said, in
general, that it carried on the best traditions of the Prussian service in
whole-hearted devotion to the interests of the state. The accusation that
he was an "agrarian" he thought it necessary to rebut in a speech delivered
on the 18th of February 1906 to the German Handelstag. He was an agrarian,
he declared, in so far as he came of a land-owning family, and was
interested in the prosperity of agriculture; but as chancellor, whose
function it is to watch over the welfare [v.04 p.0794] of all classes, he
was equally concerned with the interests of commerce and industry
(_Kölnische Zeitung_, Feb. 20, 1906). Some credit for the immense material
expansion of Germany under his chancellorship is certainly due to his zeal
and self-devotion. This was generously recognized by the emperor in a
letter publicly addressed to the chancellor on the 21st of May 1906,
immediately after the passage of the Finance Bill. "I am fully conscious,"
it ran, "of the conspicuous share in the initiation and realization of this
work of reform... which must be ascribed to the statesmanlike skill and
self-sacrificing devotion with which you have conducted and promoted those
arduous labours." Rumours had from time to time been rife of a "chancellor
crisis" and Bülow's dismissal; in the _Berliner Tageblatt_ this letter was
compared to the "Never!" with which the emperor William I. had replied to
Bismarck's proffered resignation.
On the 6th of June 1905 Count Bülow was raised to the rank of prince
(_Fürst_), on the occasion of the marriage of the crown prince. The
coincidence of this date with the fall of M. Delcassé, the French minister
for foreign affairs--a triumph for Germany and a humiliation for
France--was much commented on at the time (see _The Times_, June 7, 1905);
and the elevation of Bismarck to the rank of prince in the Hall of Mirrors
at Versailles was recalled. Whatever element of truth there may have been
in this, however, the significance of the incident was much exaggerated.
On the 5th of April 1906, while attending a debate in the Reichstag, Prince
Bülow was seized with illness, the result of overwork and an attack of
influenza, and was carried unconscious from the hall. At first it was
thought that the attack would be fatal, and Lord Fitzmaurice in the House
of Lords compared the incident with that of the death of Chatham, a
compliment much appreciated in Germany. The illness, however, quickly took
a favourable turn, and after a month's rest the chancellor was able to
resume his duties. In 1907 Prince Bülow was made the subject of a
disgraceful libel, which received more attention than it deserved because
it coincided with the Harden-Moltke scandals; his character was, however,
completely vindicated, and the libeller, a journalist named Brand, received
a term of imprisonment.
The parliamentary skill of Prince Bülow in holding together the
heterogeneous elements of which the government majority in the Reichstag
was composed, no less than the diplomatic tact with which he from time to
time "interpreted" the imperial indiscretions to the world, was put to a
rude test by the famous "interview" with the German emperor, published in
the London _Daily Telegraph_ of the 28th of October 1908 (see WILLIAM II.,
German emperor), which aroused universal reprobation in Germany. Prince
Bülow assumed the official responsibility, and tendered his resignation to
the emperor, which was not accepted; but the chancellor's explanation in
the Reichstag on the 10th of November showed how keenly he felt his
position. He declared his conviction that the disastrous results of the
interview would "induce the emperor in future to observe that strict
reserve, even in private conversations, which is equally indispensable in
the interest of a uniform policy and for the authority of the crown,"
adding that, in the contrary case, neither he nor any successor of his
could assume the responsibility (_The Times_, Nov. 11, 1908, p. 9). The
attitude of the emperor showed that he had taken the lesson to heart. It
was not the imperial indiscretions, but the effect of his budget proposals
in breaking up the Liberal-Conservative _bloc_, on whose support he
depended in the Reichstag, that eventually drove Prince Bülow from office
(see GERMANY: _History_). At the emperor's request he remained to pilot the
mutilated budget through the House; but on the 14th of July 1909 the
acceptance of his resignation was announced.
Prince Bülow married, on the 9th of January 1886, Maria Anna Zoe Rosalia
Beccadelli di Bologna, Princess Camporeale, whose first marriage with Count
Karl von Dönhoff had been dissolved and declared null by the Holy See in
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