François de Bas
Encyclopedia
François de Bas was a Dutch general and military historian. He almost single-handedly founded the military-history section of the Dutch General Staff. He co-authored major historical works on the Dutch States Army
and the Campaign of 1815, which climaxed with the Battle of Waterloo
. The latter work is still the authoritative source on the Dutch-Belgian role in that battle, because it contains copies of after-battle reports of Dutch officers who participated in the battle, the originals of which were lost in a Royal Air Force
bombardment of the Dutch Army archives in 1945.
in Breda
as a cadet
of Horse on 4 September 1856. He received a commission as a Second Lieutenant
in the Third Regiment of Dragoon
s on 1 July 1860. After only four years he was made a First Lieutenant
in the Dutch General Staff. In 1868 he was one of four young officers who were admitted to the first class in the Dutch Staff college
, from which he graduated, first in the class, in 1872. The same year he was promoted to Captain of Horse in the Second Regiment of Hussar
s. In 1873 he joined the General Staff again as a captain. He served as a professor at the Staff College from 1878 till 1885. In the latter year he was promoted to Major
and re-assigned to his old cavalry regiment, where he soon received a promotion to Lieutenant Colonel
.
However, soon after that promotion his career was cut short by a scandal in his regiment. His daughter was "seduced" by a fellow officer, a young second lieutenant, and the two young people were forced to marry. In the social circumstances of the Dutch army of the time the scandal also reflected on the father and he was no longer considered worthy of advancement. For that reason he asked to be put on non-active status in August, 1890.
However, this setback prompted him to embark on a second career, that would bring him much more renown. As a student at the Staff College he had been seconded in 1870 to Lieutenant General
Willem Jan Knoop
, the doyen of Dutch military historians at the time. Knoop had made the suggestion in 1858 to the Royal Netherlands Academy of Arts and Sciences
to collect the Dutch military archives and make them available for publication. Though the Academy advised favorably on this project at the time it would take until the 1890s before the plan came to fruition. De Bas became the person to implement the project.
His qualification for the task was that he already had made a name for himself as a military historian with his biography of Prince Frederick of the Netherlands
and the wider military history surrounding that general's career (which encompassed the Battle of Waterloo and the Belgian Revolution
). In 1890 De Bas proposed to the Minister for War, J.W. Bergansius, the founding of a military-history section in the General Staff. Though this proposal was not followed at the time, the Minister gave him a commission to start collecting sources on Dutch military history.
In 1895 De Bas, still a lieutenant colonel, was formally retired at his own request, but given the titular rank of Colonel
. In 1897 he was made director of the Military Archives of the General Staff. He had already received a temporary commission at the Archives of the Dutch royal house in 1892. In the latter function he negotiated in 1900 with the head of the House of Nassau
, Adolphe, Grand Duke of Luxembourg
, on behalf of Queen Emma of the Netherlands
about the right of the descendants of her daughter, Queen Wilhelmina
, who was about to marry Duke Henry of Mecklenburg-Schwerin, to keep using the Nassau name.
As director of the Military Archives he regularly published the sources he had uncovered. He also (after negotiations with the Belgian government) co-authored a history of the Dutch and Belgian troops in the Battle of Quatre-Bras and that of Waterloo in four volumes with the colonel of the Belgian General Staff, Jacques, count of 'tSerclaes de Wommersom that was published in 1908/9. The work may be seen as an attempt to redress the often disparaging account given in especially Anglophone historical works, like the ones by William Siborne
and his son Henry Taylor Siborne
, and the British historians that based themselves on their sources, of the conduct of the Dutch and Belgian troops and their commanding officers at those battles. His efforts in this respect brought him the promotion to titulary Major General
in 1908.
In 1908 he was joined at the military-history section of the General Staff by lieutenant-colonel (ret.) F.J.G. ten Raa, who had already collected most of the material for a standard work on the history of the Dutch States Army (the army of the Dutch Republic
). The first volume of this work was published in 1911 and De Bas used his position as head of the military-history section to have himself named as co-author of this book, though it was virtually entirely written by Ten Raa. However, this kind of arrangement was not unheard of in academic circles at the time. Ten Raa was recognized as sole author of volumes 6 and 7 in 1940,and 1950, respectively.
De Bas was promoted to lieutenant-general in 1913. He remained at the military-history section till bad health forced him to resign in 1927, almost 87 years old at the time. He died in 1931.
(Den Haag, 1989)
Dutch States Army
The Dutch States Army was the army of the Dutch Republic. It was usually called this, because it was formally the army of the States-General of the Netherlands, the sovereign power of that federal republic...
and the Campaign of 1815, which climaxed with the Battle of Waterloo
Battle of Waterloo
The Battle of Waterloo was fought on Sunday 18 June 1815 near Waterloo in present-day Belgium, then part of the United Kingdom of the Netherlands...
. The latter work is still the authoritative source on the Dutch-Belgian role in that battle, because it contains copies of after-battle reports of Dutch officers who participated in the battle, the originals of which were lost in a Royal Air Force
Royal Air Force
The Royal Air Force is the aerial warfare service branch of the British Armed Forces. Formed on 1 April 1918, it is the oldest independent air force in the world...
bombardment of the Dutch Army archives in 1945.
Life
De Bas was the son of Willem Jacobus de Bas, heer of Barwoutswaarder en Bekenes, and Johanna Maria Köhler. He married Maria Cornelia Wilhelmina Vinkhuyzen on 26 August 1863. They had five surviving children.Career
After boarding school (the academy of Guillaume Alexander Burnier in The Hague), De Bas entered the Royal Dutch Military AcademyKoninklijke Militaire Academie
The Royal Military Academy is the service academy for the Dutch Army and the Dutch Air Force. Located in Breda, the Netherlands, the KMA has trained future officers since 1828.-Description:...
in Breda
Breda
Breda is a municipality and a city in the southern part of the Netherlands. The name Breda derived from brede Aa and refers to the confluence of the rivers Mark and Aa. As a fortified city, the city was of strategic military and political significance...
as a cadet
Cadet
A cadet is a trainee to become an officer in the military, often a person who is a junior trainee. The term comes from the term "cadet" for younger sons of a noble family.- Military context :...
of Horse on 4 September 1856. He received a commission as a Second Lieutenant
Second Lieutenant
Second lieutenant is a junior commissioned officer military rank in many armed forces.- United Kingdom and Commonwealth :The rank second lieutenant was introduced throughout the British Army in 1871 to replace the rank of ensign , although it had long been used in the Royal Artillery, Royal...
in the Third Regiment of Dragoon
Dragoon
The word dragoon originally meant mounted infantry, who were trained in horse riding as well as infantry fighting skills. However, usage altered over time and during the 18th century, dragoons evolved into conventional light cavalry units and personnel...
s on 1 July 1860. After only four years he was made a First Lieutenant
First Lieutenant
First lieutenant is a military rank and, in some forces, an appointment.The rank of lieutenant has different meanings in different military formations , but the majority of cases it is common for it to be sub-divided into a senior and junior rank...
in the Dutch General Staff. In 1868 he was one of four young officers who were admitted to the first class in the Dutch Staff college
Staff college
Staff colleges train military officers in the administrative, staff and policy aspects of their profession. It is usual for such training to occur at several levels in a career...
, from which he graduated, first in the class, in 1872. The same year he was promoted to Captain of Horse in the Second Regiment of Hussar
Hussar
Hussar refers to a number of types of light cavalry which originated in Hungary in the 14th century, tracing its roots from Serbian medieval cavalry tradition, brought to Hungary in the course of the Serb migrations, which began in the late 14th century....
s. In 1873 he joined the General Staff again as a captain. He served as a professor at the Staff College from 1878 till 1885. In the latter year he was promoted to Major
Major
Major is a rank of commissioned officer, with corresponding ranks existing in almost every military in the world.When used unhyphenated, in conjunction with no other indicator of rank, the term refers to the rank just senior to that of an Army captain and just below the rank of lieutenant colonel. ...
and re-assigned to his old cavalry regiment, where he soon received a promotion to Lieutenant Colonel
Lieutenant colonel
Lieutenant colonel is a rank of commissioned officer in the armies and most marine forces and some air forces of the world, typically ranking above a major and below a colonel. The rank of lieutenant colonel is often shortened to simply "colonel" in conversation and in unofficial correspondence...
.
However, soon after that promotion his career was cut short by a scandal in his regiment. His daughter was "seduced" by a fellow officer, a young second lieutenant, and the two young people were forced to marry. In the social circumstances of the Dutch army of the time the scandal also reflected on the father and he was no longer considered worthy of advancement. For that reason he asked to be put on non-active status in August, 1890.
However, this setback prompted him to embark on a second career, that would bring him much more renown. As a student at the Staff College he had been seconded in 1870 to Lieutenant General
Lieutenant General
Lieutenant General is a military rank used in many countries. The rank traces its origins to the Middle Ages where the title of Lieutenant General was held by the second in command on the battlefield, who was normally subordinate to a Captain General....
Willem Jan Knoop
Willem Jan Knoop
Willem Jan Knoop was a Dutch lieutenant-general, military historian, and politician...
, the doyen of Dutch military historians at the time. Knoop had made the suggestion in 1858 to the Royal Netherlands Academy of Arts and Sciences
Royal Netherlands Academy of Arts and Sciences
The Royal Netherlands Academy of Arts and Sciences is an organisation dedicated to the advancement of science and literature in the Netherlands...
to collect the Dutch military archives and make them available for publication. Though the Academy advised favorably on this project at the time it would take until the 1890s before the plan came to fruition. De Bas became the person to implement the project.
His qualification for the task was that he already had made a name for himself as a military historian with his biography of Prince Frederick of the Netherlands
Prince Frederick of the Netherlands
Prince Frederick of the Netherlands, Prince of Orange-Nassau , was the second son of king William I of the Netherlands and his wife, Wilhelmine of Prussia....
and the wider military history surrounding that general's career (which encompassed the Battle of Waterloo and the Belgian Revolution
Belgian Revolution
The Belgian Revolution was the conflict which led to the secession of the Southern provinces from the United Kingdom of the Netherlands and established an independent Kingdom of Belgium....
). In 1890 De Bas proposed to the Minister for War, J.W. Bergansius, the founding of a military-history section in the General Staff. Though this proposal was not followed at the time, the Minister gave him a commission to start collecting sources on Dutch military history.
In 1895 De Bas, still a lieutenant colonel, was formally retired at his own request, but given the titular rank of Colonel
Colonel
Colonel , abbreviated Col or COL, is a military rank of a senior commissioned officer. It or a corresponding rank exists in most armies and in many air forces; the naval equivalent rank is generally "Captain". It is also used in some police forces and other paramilitary rank structures...
. In 1897 he was made director of the Military Archives of the General Staff. He had already received a temporary commission at the Archives of the Dutch royal house in 1892. In the latter function he negotiated in 1900 with the head of the House of Nassau
House of Nassau
The House of Nassau is a diversified aristocratic dynasty in Europe. It is named after the lordship associated with Nassau Castle, located in present-day Nassau, Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany. The lords of Nassau were originally titled Count of Nassau, then elevated to the princely class as...
, Adolphe, Grand Duke of Luxembourg
Adolphe, Grand Duke of Luxembourg
Adolphe I, Grand Duke of Luxembourg was the last Duke of Nassau, and the fourth Grand Duke of Luxembourg.-Biography:...
, on behalf of Queen Emma of the Netherlands
Emma of Waldeck and Pyrmont
Princess Emma of Waldeck and Pyrmont was Queen consort of William III, King of the Netherlands and Grand Duke of Luxembourg...
about the right of the descendants of her daughter, Queen Wilhelmina
Wilhelmina of the Netherlands
Wilhelmina was Queen regnant of the Kingdom of the Netherlands from 1890 to 1948. She ruled the Netherlands for fifty-eight years, longer than any other Dutch monarch. Her reign saw World War I and World War II, the economic crisis of 1933, and the decline of the Netherlands as a major colonial...
, who was about to marry Duke Henry of Mecklenburg-Schwerin, to keep using the Nassau name.
As director of the Military Archives he regularly published the sources he had uncovered. He also (after negotiations with the Belgian government) co-authored a history of the Dutch and Belgian troops in the Battle of Quatre-Bras and that of Waterloo in four volumes with the colonel of the Belgian General Staff, Jacques, count of 'tSerclaes de Wommersom that was published in 1908/9. The work may be seen as an attempt to redress the often disparaging account given in especially Anglophone historical works, like the ones by William Siborne
William Siborne
William Siborne, Sibourne or Siborn was a British officer and military historian whose most notable work was a history of the Waterloo campaign.-Early life:...
and his son Henry Taylor Siborne
Henry Taylor Siborne
Major-General Herbert Taylor Siborne was a British Army officer and military historian. He was the second son of the officer and historian William Siborne and in 1891 edited and published some of the letters his father had received in his research for his Battle of Waterloo model as Waterloo...
, and the British historians that based themselves on their sources, of the conduct of the Dutch and Belgian troops and their commanding officers at those battles. His efforts in this respect brought him the promotion to titulary Major General
Major General
Major general or major-general is a military rank used in many countries. It is derived from the older rank of sergeant major general. A major general is a high-ranking officer, normally subordinate to the rank of lieutenant general and senior to the ranks of brigadier and brigadier general...
in 1908.
In 1908 he was joined at the military-history section of the General Staff by lieutenant-colonel (ret.) F.J.G. ten Raa, who had already collected most of the material for a standard work on the history of the Dutch States Army (the army of the Dutch Republic
Dutch Republic
The Dutch Republic — officially known as the Republic of the Seven United Netherlands , the Republic of the United Netherlands, or the Republic of the Seven United Provinces — was a republic in Europe existing from 1581 to 1795, preceding the Batavian Republic and ultimately...
). The first volume of this work was published in 1911 and De Bas used his position as head of the military-history section to have himself named as co-author of this book, though it was virtually entirely written by Ten Raa. However, this kind of arrangement was not unheard of in academic circles at the time. Ten Raa was recognized as sole author of volumes 6 and 7 in 1940,and 1950, respectively.
De Bas was promoted to lieutenant-general in 1913. He remained at the military-history section till bad health forced him to resign in 1927, almost 87 years old at the time. He died in 1931.
Works
- Prins Frederik der Nederlanden en zijn tijd (Schiedam, 1887 – 1913)
- Bas, F de and J. De T'Serclaes de Wommersom ; La campagne de 1815 aux Pays-Bas d'après les rapports officiels néerlandais / Parts: I: Quatre-Bras. II: Waterloo. III: Annexes et notes. IV: supplément: cartes et plans,( Bruxelles 1908-1909)
- Het Staatsche Leger, 1568–1795, bewerkt door F.J.G ten Raa en F. de Bas (Breda, 1911 – 1950)
Sources
,, (uitgave SDU) , 'Bas, François de (1840–1931)', in Biografisch Woordenboek van NederlandBiografisch Woordenboek van Nederland
The Biografisch Woordenboek van Nederland is a Dutch biographical dictionary, in which short biographies of well-known and less well-known but still notable Dutch people are listed....
(Den Haag, 1989)