The South African Republic, also known as the Transvaal Republic, was an independent Boer republic in Southern Africa which existed from 1852 to 1902, when it was annexed into the British Empire as a result of the Second Boer War.
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 United Kingdom 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.
Ladysmith is a town in the Uthukela District of KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa. It lies 230 kilometres (140 mi) north-west of Durban and 365 kilometres (227 mi) south-east of Johannesburg. Important industries in the area include food processing, textiles, and tyre production. Ladysmith is the seat for both the Alfred Duma Local Municipality and Uthukela District Municipality.
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 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 Pretoria Convention was the peace treaty that ended the First Boer War between the Transvaal Boers and Great Britain. The treaty was signed in Pretoria on 3 August 1881, but was subject to ratification by the Volksraad within 3 months from the date of signature. The Volksraad first raised objections to a number of the clauses of the treaty, but did eventually ratify the version signed in Pretoria, after Britain refused any further concessions or changes to the treaty.
The South African Constabulary (SAC) was a paramilitary force set up in 1900 under British Army control to police areas captured from the two independent Boer republics of Transvaal and Orange Free State during the Second Boer War. Its first Inspector-General was Major-General Robert Baden-Powell, later the founder of the worldwide Scout Movement. After hostilities ended in 1902, the two countries became British colonies and the force was disbanded in 1908.
The siege of Kimberley took place during the Second Boer War at Kimberley, Cape Colony, when Boer forces from the Orange Free State and the Transvaal besieged the diamond mining town. The Boers moved quickly to try to capture the area when war broke out between the British and the two Boer republics in October 1899. The town was ill-prepared, but the defenders organised an energetic and effective improvised defence that was able to prevent it from being taken.
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 94th Regiment of Foot was a British Army line infantry regiment, raised as the Scotch Brigade in October 1794. It was renumbered as the 94th Regiment of Foot in December 1802 and disbanded in December 1818. The regiment was reformed in December 1823 and served until 1881 when it amalgamated with the 88th Regiment of Foot to form the Connaught Rangers.
The Battle of Elands River was an engagement of the Second Boer War that took place between 4 and 16 August 1900 in western Transvaal. The battle was fought at Brakfontein Drift near the Elands River between a force of 2,000 to 3,000 Boers and a garrison of 500 Australian, Rhodesian, Canadian and British soldiers, which was stationed there to protect a British supply dump that had been established along the route between Mafeking and Pretoria. The Boer force, which consisted of several commandos under the overall leadership of Koos de la Rey, was in desperate need of provisions after earlier fighting had cut it off from its support base. As a result, it was decided to attack the garrison along the Elands River in an effort to capture the supplies located there.
The Battle of Driefontein on 10 March 1900 followed on the Battle of Poplar Grove in the Second Boer War between the British Empire and the Boer republics, in what is now South Africa. In the first half of 1900, the British made an offensive towards the two Boer republic capitals of Bloemfontein and Pretoria.
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 siege of Marabastad was a siege of Fort Marabastad, in present day Limpopo, South Africa, carried out by the Boer Republic of Transvaal, starting on 11 January 1881, and ending with British surrender on 2 April 1881. It took place during the First Boer War, during which Boer forces besieged several British garrisons across the country.
The siege of Rustenburg was a siege that took place between 1880 and 1881 during the First Boer War. Boer forces of the South African Republic carried out the siege on Rustenburg, a British-controlled city inside of the Transvaal Colony, and captured it after three months.
Carolina Commando was a light infantry regiment of the South African Army for the district of Carolina, South Africa. It formed part of the South African Army Infantry Formation as well as the South African Territorial Reserve.
The Battle of Rooihuiskraal on 12 February 1881 was a military engagement during the First Boer War which took place at Rooihuiskraal just south of Pretoria.
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.
United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland 
South African Republic 
