The Second Boer War, also known as the Boer War, Transvaal War, Anglo–Boer War, or South African War, was a conflict fought between the British Empire and the two Boer republics over the Empire's influence in Southern Africa.
The First Boer War, was fought from 16 December 1880 until 23 March 1881 between the British Empire and Boers of the Transvaal. The war resulted in a Boer victory and eventual independence of the South African Republic. The war is also known as the First Anglo–Boer War, the Transvaal War or the Transvaal Rebellion.
The Battle of Majuba Hill on 27 February 1881 was the final and decisive battle of the First Boer War that was a resounding victory for the Boers. The British Major General Sir George Pomeroy Colley occupied the summit of the hill on the night of 26–27 February 1881. Colley's motive for occupying Majuba Hill, near Volksrust, now in South Africa, may have been anxiety that the Boers would soon occupy it themselves, since he had witnessed their trenches being dug in the direction of the hill.
The siege of Ladysmith was a protracted engagement in the Second Boer War, taking place between 2 November 1899 and 28 February 1900 at Ladysmith, Natal.
The following lists events that happened during 1900 in South Africa.
Battle of Schuinshoogte, also known as Battle of Ingogo, was fought north of Newcastle, KwaZulu-Natal, on 8 February 1881 during the First Boer War. General Sir George Pomeroy Colley's communications with Newcastle were under constant harassment by mounted Boer patrols under Commander J D Weilbach after the Boer victory at the Battle of Laing's Nek and as a result he planned to clear a path along the Newcastle-Mount Prospect road to better protect the British supply line, and receive fresh reinforcements he needed to bolster his ranks.
Major General Sir George Pomeroy Colley, was a British Army officer who became Governor and Commander-in-Chief of Natal and High Commissioner for South Eastern Africa. Colley was killed in action, at the Battle of Majuba Hill.
The battle of Bronkhorstspruit was the first major engagement of the First Boer War. It took place by the Bronkhorstspruit river, near the town of Bronkhorstspruit, Transvaal, on 20 December 1880. Threatened by the growing numbers of militant Boers in the Pretoria region, the British recalled the 94th Regiment of Foot, which had several companies garrisoned in towns and villages across the wider area. The regiment's commanding officer, Lieutenant Colonel Philip Robert Anstruther, led a 34-wagon column consisting of roughly 250 men on a 188-mile (303 km) journey from Lydenburg back to Pretoria. A similar-sized Boer commando force, led by Francois Gerhardus Joubert, was ordered to intercept and stop the British.
The Battle of Laing's Nek was a major battle fought at Laing's Nek during the First Boer War on 28 January 1881.
The State Artillery Regiment is a reserve artillery regiment of the South African Army.
The 14th Infantry Brigade was a British Army formation during the Second Boer War, World War I, when it served on the Western Front, and World War II, when it fought in Crete and Tobruk, and then as Chindits in Burma.
The Relief of Ladysmith consisted of multiple efforts to relieve the city of Ladysmith by General Sir Redvers Buller during the Second Boer War. Buller and the Natal Field Force attempted to relieve the city through multiple offensive actions. The city had been under siege since 2 November, 1899, and Britain had sent General Buller to relieve the city. After consolidating his Forces at Estcourt through most of November and early December, he began his relief of the city. The attempts to relieve the city started on 15 December at the Second Battle of Colenso, in which the British forces were repelled by the Boers on the Tugela River. The next two attempts were repulsed kompozisyon by the Boers, however at the Battle of Pieters Hill in February 1900, the Boers were eventually beaten from the city and forced to withdraw to Botha's Pass near Newcastle. Buller and his Forces entered the city on February 28, 1900, officially ending the Siege of Ladysmith.
Lieutenant Robert Hamond Elwes was a British Army officer who was killed in action during the First Boer War. As a junior officer in the Grenadier Guards regiment, Elwes fought in the Battle of Laing's Nek where he died while leading a cavalry charge against Boer forces. His death was portrayed in Elizabeth Thompson's 1898 painting "Floreat Etona!".
The military history of Australia during the Boer War is complex, and includes a period of history in which the six formerly autonomous British Australian colonies federated to become the Commonwealth of Australia. At the outbreak of the Second Boer War, each of these separate colonies maintained their own, independent military forces, but by the cessation of hostilities, these six armies had come under a centralised command to form the Australian Army.
The Natal Field Force (NFF) was a multi-battalion field force originally formed by Major-General Sir George Pomeroy Colley in Natal for the First Boer War. It was later re-established for the Second Boer War (1899–1902) and commanded by Major-General Sir Redvers Buller VC GCB GCMG.
The siege of Lydenburg was a siege carried out by South African Republican forces on British-occupied Lydenburg, between January and March 1881 during the First Boer War. Despite fierce British resistance, the Boers reclaimed the town following the British defeat at the end of the war. The siege lasted 84 days.
The Battle of Elandsfontein on 11 January 1881 was a military engagement during the First Boer War which took place at Elandsfontein ridge just west of Pretoria. During the war horses proved to be the main means of transport across the South African plains. Because of this, much effort was put in grass mowers by the British for the production of hay. It was during one such expedition to collect the necessary horse fodder on 11 January 1881 in a valley near Elandsfontein, that the British were spotted and attacked by a party of Boers. This resulted in the Boers capturing the mowing machine, a wagon and some mules while the British escaped the encounter. With the belief that their attackers had originated from a laager at Elandsfontein, an escorted expedition force was sent to the laager's believed location on 16 January 1881 to either assert dominance in the area or to destroy the camp outright.
George Frederick Gildea was a British Lieutenant Colonel of Irish origin who was notable for commanding the 69th Foot during the First Boer War.
The Northern Natal Offensive was a military invasion of the Northern region of Natal by the Boers of the Transvaal and the Orange Free State during the Second Boer War. It was part of a larger offensive by the Boers into the British colonies, with other invasions occurring in Bechuanaland and the Cape Colony. The Boers invaded on 12 October, after Paul Kruger had declared war a day earlier. The Boers initially had success with this offensive, besieging Ladysmith, and reaching as far south as Estcourt in November 1899. The goal of the offensive for the Boers was to reach the port city of Durban and the capital of Pietermartizburg in order hopefully force the British into peace negotiations. However, with Redvers Buller's reinforcements arriving that same month, the Boers retreated to the Tugela River. Multiple attempts were made by Buller to relieve Ladysmith, but to no avail. However, the fourth attempt in February 1900 expelled the Boers from their position at the Battle of the Pieters. Scattered fighting from March-May 1900 continued, with the Boers being expelled from Natal completely at the Battle of Laing's Nek. With the Boers out of Natal, the offensive ended.
The Battle of Silkaatsnek was a military engagement in the Anglo-Boer War on July 11, 1900, at the Silkaatsnek mountain pass, between Pretoria and Rustenburg. Boer guerrillas under assistant-commander general Koos de la Rey surprised British troops, using a new guerrilla tactic instead of fighting a set-piece battle. On the same day of July 11, 1900, the British also suffered two similar reversals, at Battle of Dwarsvlei in Krugersdorp district and at Onderstepoort, but a few days later, on 16 July 1900, they withstood a Boer attack in the Battle of Witpoort east of Pretoria.
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