Gerardus Petrus Booms
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Gerardus Petrus Booms | |
|---|---|
 Gerardus Petrus Booms. | |
| Born | 29 October 1822 Maastricht |
| Died | 23 February 1897 (aged 74) The Hague |
| Allegiance | Netherlands |
| Rank | General |
| Other work | Politician |
Gerardus Petrus Booms (29 October 1822 in Maastricht – 23 February 1897 in The Hague) was a Dutch military leader, author, and politician.
Activities in Algiers
Boom's father and his brothers served under Napoleon; the father took part in the French occupation of Naarden in the years 1813 and 1814, from where he traveled to France until the moment had come when he could return to his homeland without blemish for his name and breach of his fidelity. Booms was not originally intended for military service, but received a classical education after leaving primary school. Because the city of Maastricht at that time in connection with the Belgian Revolution was rather restless, his parents sent him to a French (his mother was French) boarding school. In 1838 he was posted as a cadet to the Royal Military Academy; no fewer than 74 aspirants competed for 18 places, of which Booms obtained one after an entrance exam. The Military Academy was then only two years old and was placed under the administration of HG Seelig as governor and IP Delprat as commander. Booms wrote about life at the Academy later: the rules of military discipline were indeed taught, but only in letter, the spirit thereof remained foreign to the cadets. The vocation for the military rank, the whole field of military morality was left fallow.[1] During this time, Booms read a lot in Walter Scott. He left the Academy in 1842 in the rank of second lieutenant and was posted to the seventh infantry regiment garrisoned at Maastricht.
Booms went on to serve in the military for four years and soon attracted attention for his abilities. In the summer of 1846 he was posted as a teacher of French language and literature at the Military Academy; here he got to know Van Heusden, Knoop and Seelig better. He was influenced by them and became a follower of the teaching that only sound politics could form the soil in which the military could take root and flourish. [2] During this time he acted, among other things, to ensure the legal status of the officer;[2] this battle brought him into contact with the former soldier TJ Stieltjes and with Johan Rudolph Thorbecke. Later the outcome of this experience was the Act of 1851 regulating the promotion, dismissal and retirement of officers. Booms had meanwhile become convinced that the true military school for the officer was war: Book and field study and peace exercises, however instructive, are not sufficient preparation for war and I wanted to gain war experience, he wrote. [2] Initially Booms wanted to leave for the Indies, but because things were not so easy at the time, he left for France.
General Seelig applauded Booms' intention and obtained a year's leave for him to France with salary. Seelig gave Booms an edition of Montaignes Essais with a handwritten caption. When he arrived at Paris, Louis Philippe I had just fallen and with him the bourgeoisie; it was fermenting all over France. Booms soon gained access to the barracks and the forts, to the military school at Saint-Cyr, some regimental schools, the autumn exercises and the library of the Ministry of War. During this time he wrote several articles for de Spectateur Militaire, including a description of the organization of the French army. In the spring of 1854 an expedition to Little Kabylie was approaching. This highland was a source of unrest for the French and it was also apparent from the events of 1848-1850 that Algiers was far from being subdued after Abd-el-kader had laid down their arms. This expedition to Little Kabylie was one of the most difficult and violent of any expedition ever to take place in Algiers. Through the mediation of the Dutch envoy general baron Fagel, who took a great deal of interest in Booms, he received permission to participate in the expedition. That expedition had a decisive influence on him. On his way to Algiers he came into contact with (then lieutenant colonel) Espinaise and got to know, among others, the generals Saint-Arnaud and Pélissier, rich in war experience.
Booms later wrote: 'War is the true touchstone for the usefulness of the army, it is also the true touchstone for the individual, especially for the officer, the exam, in which not only knowledge but also character, moral qualities, the main thing, it turns out. Under the tension of the moment, the good and bad qualities come out sharply. One has to expose oneself there as one is and one gets to know others and ... oneself.[3] Years later, Marshal Bosquet spoke of Booms: de ce brave officer, qui nous a fait tant de bons services. On his return to France he was honorably mentioned. In Algiers, Booms was instructed by his battalion's commander to notify two army departments that were on the battalion's flank, but were too far away from it, of a change in the direction of the march. He made his way there on horseback, but soon found that the most distant division was engaged in a fierce battle. Thereupon he gave the order not to go back to the department he met first, but to go forward. He made the storm march sound, and the enemy recoiled from it; thus he managed to relieve the other division. Even before Booms returned to Paris, he was appointed Knight in the Legion of Honor. Secretary of War, General Randon, personally attached the Knight's Cross to his chest.
