The Anglo-Boer War

So here we are, the battle of Colenso, December 15th 1899. Four Victoria Crosses were awarded in this clash but it also led to defeat for the British who stumbled repeatedly under the command of their beloved yet faulty Sir Redvers Buller. The Boers, although victorious, began to appreciate the true fire power their opponents possessed. It’s also a battle that led to the death of a Field Marshall’s son Freddie Roberts. The end of the battle saw the stretcher bearers called "bodysnatchers" which included Mahatma Gandhi. Queen Victoria's beloved grandson was wounded in this battle which was incredibly one-sided where the British lost over 1137 casualties, the Boers, around 38.

We heard last week how General Methuen had been roundly defeated at the battle of Magersfontein in the Northern Cape and had withdrawn his force back to the Modder River. North east across South Africa and in the province of Natal, the commander of the British troops Sir Redvers Buller was preparing to face his own sword of damocles.

The second terrible battle of black week was about to break upon the shores of the British Empire Colenso. And Mahatma Gandhi makes an appearance.

The Battle of Magersfontein destroyed a Highland Brigade and taught the English a lesson they'd forget almost immediately. Do not launch a frontal attack on a hidden enemy unless you do proper reconnaissance. Magersfontein would also lead directly to General Methuen losing his command as the commander of British Forces in the West of South Africa.

The Battle of Modder River took place after two other skirmishes which are called soldiers’ battles. These are bloody affairs where men die in droves, The battles of Belmont and Graspan then elicited a strategic master stroke by the Boers where they figured out how to exact high casualties by placing trenches at the base of hills and using their high powered Mauser bolt-action rifles to sow mayhem amongst the attacking British force.

Our view shifts to the Western reaches of South Africa - the south western to be specific. Last week we watched how Winston Churchill as captured at Chieverly south of Colenso on the main line to Ladysmith where the wretched 13 000 British troops were surrounded by Boers. That was near the mighty Tugela River.

Now we’re near the Orange River, the longest in South Africa. It lies North of Cape Town between the port and Kimberley. The decision had been taken for the British Army Corp central group to push on over the river and towards Kimberley where Cecil John Rhodes had been telegraphing almost daily that the city was soon to be overrun by Boers.

It’s just over a month since hostilities were declared formally on 10th October 1899, a number of battles have been fought that dispelled British notions of a quick and easy war. Thousands of casualties have been reported and there’s some consternation in London.

By this time, about a third of the 47 000 strong Army Corps which British Commander General Redvers Buller would lead had arrived in Cape Town and some had been sent on to Durban to prepare to march to relieve Ladysmith.

And in the midst of all this, Winston Churchill is taken prisoner.

General Redvers Buller, the commander of British forces in South Africa, is in Cape Town having arrived in late October 1899 and walked off the ship and into a firestorm.

His orders to General White in Natal had been ignored, White had allowed Colonel Penn Symons to move north of the Tugela river to Dundee where he’d been killed in action.

Now General White himself was holed up in Ladysmith, surrounded by two large Boer Commandoes, the Free Staters under General Steyn and the Transvalers under General Joubert.

Sir Redvers Buller the commander in chief of British Forces in South Africa, sailed into the harbour on the Dunottar Castle on 31st October 1899, with his warhorses, polo sticks and a bicycle, and Winston Churchill the young war reporter in tow. He was to arrive as the British experienced a major defeat and the most men taken prisoner in a single battle since the Napoleonic Wars almost a century before.

In October 1899 the Boers have begun to invade Natal and are about to threaten Ladysmith. It’s only two weeks after the war began on 10th October and at first the British believed they’d won two small battles at Talana Hill overlooking Dundee and Elandslaagte station north of Ladysmith.

In this episode we’ll learn about the first battle of Dundee or what’s known as Talana Hill, and Elandslaagte a day later. Both appeared at first to be British victories .. but appearances can be deceptive.