F. F. (Filippus Fourie) Pienaar

Born in 1877, Filippus Fourie Pienaar was a South African soldier and writer best known for With Steyn and De Wet. Project Gutenberg identifies him as the author of that work, and the book itself is presented as a firsthand account of the South African War, written under the name Philip Pienaar.

Available reference sources also describe him as a military figure who later served in diplomatic roles. A German-language Wikipedia entry identifies him as a major in the Second Boer War and notes that he went on to represent the South African government abroad, including service connected to the League of Nations and later as a diplomat in Portugal.

What makes Pienaar especially interesting as an author is the mix of lived experience and public service behind his work. Rather than writing from a distance, he wrote as someone who had been in the middle of the conflict, which gives With Steyn and De Wet the immediacy of a personal witness as well as the perspective of a man who later moved in official circles.