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| Origins | | In many ways this war was a continuation of hostilities from the earlier Boer War 1, 1880-1. This time, however, it was much more bloody and protracted with the British determined to win decisively. British reasons for the conflict were similar to the earlier war, being the further colonial conquest of the South African region with its rich mineral deposits and geo-political importance. Opposing this expansion were again the independent and religious Boers, who were fighting to save their land, families and way of life. [For a fuller account of Boer history and British colonialism in the region see the Boer War 1 account.]
The war had four distinct phases. First, after lengthy, but failed negotiations with the British, the Boer mounted a pre-emptive strike into British-held territory, culminating in the famous sieges of the garrisons at Ladysmith, Mafeking and Kimberley. Second, an initial but ineffective British counter-offensive to relieve these three sieges. Third, another and this time successful British offensive to relieve the sieges, brought about by greatly increased troop numbers. Finally, a protracted guerrilla war began in March 1900 and lasting a further eighteen months. | | | The Boer’s Initial Offensive | | On the 12th October 1899 the Boer crossed their border from Transvaal southwards into British controlled Natal. With elements of both speed and surprise the Boer drove quickly towards the major British garrison at Ladysmith and the smaller ones at Mafeking and Kimberley.
On route to Ladysmith lay the small British camp of Dundee (also reported as Glencoe) surrounded by hills including Talana Hill, which became the site of the first engagement of the war. It was from here that the Boer shelled the British camp on the 20th October. The British commander’s response, Major-General Penn-Symons, was to give the Boer a short, sharp shock and so bring the whole war to a quick conclusion. His aggressiveness and arrogance in the counter-attack unfortunately resulted in 464 British casualties including Penn-Symons himself. Although the British deemed the raid a success – albeit expensive in lives lost – they nonetheless retreated back to Ladysmith. During this tactical withdrawal the British mounted a successful attack at Elandsaagte on the 21st, which further helped to redeem (temporarily) the sense of retreat.
This small success, however, was soon forgotten because on the 30th October the British suffered several set-backs as further offensives from Ladysmith failed, and in the process, lost a total of 140 men and had over 1000 captured. These failed attempts to break the Boer attack marked the beginning of this famous siege.
Meanwhile to the north-west at Mafeking, on the border with Transvaal, Colonel R. S. S. Baden-Powell had raised two regiments of local forces amounting to some 1,200 men in order to attack and create diversions if things further south went amiss. Mafeking, being a railway junction, provided good supply facilities and was the obvious place for Baden-Powell to fortify in readiness for such attacks. However, instead of being the aggressor Baden-Powell and Mafeking were forced to defend when 6,000 Boer, commanded by Piet Cronje, attempted a determined assault on the town. But this quickly subsided into a desultory affair with the Boer prepared to starve the stronghold into submission and so, on the 13th October, began the 217-day siege.
Lastly, over 200 miles to the south lay the large town of Kimberley, the centre of diamond mining, which was also subject to a siege. Although not militarily significant it nonetheless represented existing British Imperialism and hence an important Boer prize. From early November about 7,500 Boer began their siege, again content to starve the town into submission, but the 50,000 inhabitants of which only 5,000 were armed were under little threat as the town was well-stocked with provisions.
It was at this point that General Sir Redvers Buller, the much respected commander, was sent to South Africa along with reinforcements to relieve these three sieges. | | | The 1st British Counter-offensive to relieve the Sieges | | Buller’s strategy was to split his forces into three parts. One force, led by Lord Methuen was to follow the Western Railway to the north and relieve Mafeking. A smaller force, led by General William Gatacre, was to push north toward the railway junction at Stormberg, on route to relieve Kimberley. Finally, Buller himself would lead the major force and relieve Ladysmith to the east. The initial results of this offensive were mixed with Methuen winning several bloody skirmishes at Belmont (23rd November), Graspan (25th) and a larger conflict at the Modder River (28th) resulting in British losses of 71 dead and over 400 wounded.
However, these minor successes were soon marred by a series of major set-backs during the 10th -16th December, dubbed ‘Black Week’. The first of these was with Gatacre suffering a dreadful defeat and retreat at Stormberg caused by tactical errors and poor communications, resulting in 380 killed, over 1,500 wounded and 860 taken prisoner. This was followed, on the 11th, by Methuen’s futile attack at Magersfontein. This turned into a disaster when the Highland Brigade became trapped by accurate Boer fire which, after suffering the intense heat and thirst for nine hours, eventually forced an ill-disciplined retreat. This engagement cost almost a thousand casualties.
The final loss of the week was of Buller’s own force at Colenso, just north of the border at the Tugela River, on 15th. Here, through the use of clever tactics and knowledge of local topography, the Boer out-manoeuvred a British attack with one company becoming split from the main force and then abandoned along with its artillery. Buller’s remaining forces retreated, with fatalities of 145 men with another 1,200 missing or wounded.
As a result of this series of defeats, deemed the result of poor strategic planning, Buller’s reputation plummeted to such an extent that his overall command was replaced by Lord Roberts. | | | 2nd British Counter-offensive | | The Government took these defeats badly and with the sieges still continuing was compelled into sending two more divisions plus large numbers of colonial volunteers. By January 1900 this would become the largest force Britain had ever sent overseas amounting to some 180,000 men with further reinforcements being sought.
Whilst waiting for these reinforcements Buller attempted to recover some of his lost reputation by making another bid to relieve Ladysmith. While on route he agreed to attack Spion Kop, a lightly-guarded hill, during the early hours of 24th January, of which the strategic value is uncertain. However, once near the top and as the early fog lifted they realised too late that they were overlooked by Boer guns emplacements on the surrounding hills. The rest of the day resulted in a disaster caused by poor communication between Buller and his commanders. Between them they issued contradictory orders of either getting men off the hill, whilst other officers order fresh reinforcements up the hill to support them. The result was 350 men killed and nearly 1,000 wounded and a retreat back across the Tugela River into British territory.
By February 1900 Roberts and his reinforcements were ready for the major counter-offensive. Although initially planning to march against Bloemfontein, the Orange Free State capital, Roberts instead ordered General French to relieve Kimberley. The British, although encumbered with a long supply route, managed to outflank the Boer using diversionary tactics, who still expected an attack on Bloemfontein. Beginning on the 11th French’s forces marched towards Kimberley engaging successfully with the Boer at the Modder River. Then at Klip’s Drift, on the 15th, 900 men of 9th and 16th Lancers charged the Boer defences. Although encountering severe fire the charge split the Boer defences allowing 1,500 men of the cavalry, who were at the rear, to continue the enemy rout who quickly fled from such a massed attack. This success opened the way for French to enter Kimberley that evening, relieving its 124 days’ siege.
Meanwhile, Methuen pursued Piet Cronje’s 7,000 strong force, which had left Magersfontein to head for Bloemfontein. General French’s cavalry was also ordered to assist in the pursuit by embarking on an epic 30-mile drive towards Paardeberg where Cronje was entrenched. On the 17th February, a pincher movement involving both French’s cavalry and the main British force attempted to take the entrenched position, but the frontal attacks were unco-ordinated and so easily repulsed by the Boer. Finally, Roberts resorted to bombarding Cronje into submission, but it took a further ten precious days and with the British troops using the polluted Modder River as water supply, resulting in a typhoid epidemic killing many troops.
During this time, on the 14th, Buller was just beginning his fourth attempt to relieve Ladysmith. Despite reinforcements his progress was painfully slow against stiff opposition. However, on the 26th, after much deliberation, Buller used for the first time all his forces in one all-out attack. This attack, preceded by a bombardment that considerably weakened the Boer defences, was eventually successful. Finally, on the 28th, Buller’s infantry streamed into Ladysmith with the Boer retreating to end the 118-day siege, but with a cost of 7,000 British casualties.
After a succession of defeats the Boer realised that against such overwhelming superiority of troops they had little chance of defeating the British and so became demoralised. Roberts’ forces continued to push towards Bloemfontein, which he entered unopposed on the 13th March, with the Boer defenders escaping and scattering. From now on, with the Boer capital in British control along with the other major towns, it left only Mafeking still under siege, which was finally relieved on the 16th May.
On the 28th May the Orange Free State was annexed and renamed the Orange River Colony. In early June Johannesburg fell, which was quickly followed by Pretoria. This allowed the Roberts to declare the war over, having won the principal cities and so, on the 3rd September 1900, the South African Republic was formally annexed. However, some of the Boer leaders didn’t share his view and so a new phase of the war began. | | | Guerrilla War | | Even while Roberts was mopping-up pockets of Boer resistance there began a new type of warfare not known before, one based on guerrilla tactics, which would last for a further eighteen months. The strategy of speed, surprise attack and retreat was pursued by General Christian de Wet and President Marthinus Steyn of the Orange Free State. From late May 1900 the first successes of their strategy were at Lindley (where 500 Yeomanry surrendered), at Heilbron (capturing a large convey and its escort) and other skirmishes resulting in 1,500 British casualties in less than ten days.
As a result of these and other Boer successes the British, led by Lord Kitchener, mounted three extensive searches for De Wet, but without success. However, by its very nature the guerrilla war was sporadic, poorly planned and with little overall objective in mind except to harass the British. This lead to a disorganised pattern of scattered engagements throughout the whole region.
To counter this new form of war Kitchener, now in overall command, (Roberts having left in December 1900) ordered farms to be burnt and food destroyed to reduce the Boer’s infrastructure. In addition, a system of dividing the country into sections was devised using barbed wire and blockhouses, each housing 6-8 soldiers to guard that particular area. Eventually some 10,000 such blockhouses were built radiating from the larger towns. This process successfully limited the Boer’s manoeuvrability to conduct their guerrilla attacks and, although they continued throughout 1901, the raids became steadily more infrequent. Finally, with the last engagement at Roodewal, on 11th April 1902, the war ended and the first serious peace talks began that same month. | | | Aftermath | | Protracted peace negotiations continued until 31st May when the terms were finally agreed. Consequently the former republics would become Crown colonies but with self-government, and were required to use bi-lingual Dutch and English in schools and courts.
This war, particularly the guerrilla war, marked the end of purely military battles involving only service personnel. Instead, guerrilla tactics and its counter-tactics marked the beginning of modern ‘total war’ engagements with civilians also caught up in its effects, including their incarceration in British holding camps. This resulted in huge numbers of their deaths by both disease and malnutrition. Indeed, typhoid was the single greatest cause of casualties in the entire war, with the disease killing 13,000 British troops, whilst ‘only’ 7,500 were killed in action, out of a total of 100,000 casualties. | |
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