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  • South Africa
    1900
    Second Boer War

    Second phase of war

    South Africa
    1900

    In the second phase, after the number of British troops was greatly increased under the command of Lord Roberts, the British launched another offensive in 1900 to relieve the sieges, this time achieving success. After Natal and the Cape Colony were secure, the British army was able to invade the Transvaal, and the republic's capital, Pretoria, was ultimately captured in June 1900.




  • South Africa
    Jan, 1900
    Second Boer War

    The Largest force Britain had ever sent overseas

    South Africa
    Jan, 1900

    The British government took these defeats badly and with the sieges still continuing was compelled to send 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.




  • Ladysmith, South Africa
    Tuesday Jan 23, 1900
    Second Boer War

    Battle of Spion Kop

    Ladysmith, South Africa
    Tuesday Jan 23, 1900

    The Battle of Spion Kop was fought about 38 km (24 mi) west-south-west of Ladysmith on the hilltop of Spioenkop along the Tugela River, Natal in South Africa from 23–24 January 1900. It was fought between the South African Republic and the Orange Free State on the one hand and British forces during the Second Boer War campaign to relieve Ladysmith. It resulted in a Boer victory. The battle, collectively with its location at a hill, has gone down in British football lore as the namesake of a common British term for single-tier terraces and/or stands at football stadia.




  • Ladysmith, South Africa
    Wednesday Jan 24, 1900
    Second Boer War

    British troops captured the summit by surprise

    Ladysmith, South Africa
    Wednesday Jan 24, 1900

    British troops captured the summit by surprise during the early hours of 24 January 1900, but as the early morning fog lifted they realised too late that they were overlooked by Boer gun emplacements on the surrounding hills. The result was 350 men killed and nearly 1,000 wounded and a retreat across the Tugela River into British territory. There were nearly 300 Boer casualties.




  • South Africa
    Jan, 1900
    Winston Churchill

    Churchill briefly rejoined the army as a lieutenant in the South African Light Horse regiment

    South Africa
    Jan, 1900

    In January 1900, Churchill briefly rejoined the army as a lieutenant in the South African Light Horse regiment, joining Redvers Buller's fight to relieve the Siege of Ladysmith and take Pretoria. He was among the first British troops in both places. He and his cousin, the 9th Duke of Marlborough, demanded and received the surrender of 52 Boer prison camp guards. Throughout the war, he had publicly chastised anti-Boer prejudices, calling for them to be treated with "generosity and tolerance", and after the war, he urged the British to be magnanimous in victory.




  • South Africa
    Saturday Feb 10, 1900
    Second Boer War

    Roberts launched his main attack

    South Africa
    Saturday Feb 10, 1900

    Roberts launched his main attack on 10 February 1900 and although hampered by a long supply route, managed to outflank the Boers defending Magersfontein. Field Marshal Frederick Sleigh Roberts, 1st Earl Roberts was a British Victorian era general who became one of the most successful British military commanders of his time. Born in India to an Anglo-Irish family, Roberts joined the East India Company Army and served as a young officer in the Indian Rebellion during which he won a Victoria Cross for gallantry. He was then transferred to the British Army and fought in the Expedition to Abyssinia and the Second Anglo-Afghan War, in which his exploits earned him widespread fame. Roberts would go on to serve as the Commander-in-Chief, India before leading British Forces to success in the Second Boer War. He also became the last Commander-in-Chief of the Forces before the post was abolished in 1904.




  • Kimberley, South Africa
    Wednesday Feb 14, 1900
    Second Boer War

    Cavalry division under Major General John French launched a major attack to relieve Kimberley

    Kimberley, South Africa
    Wednesday Feb 14, 1900

    On 14 February, a cavalry division under Major General John French launched a major attack to relieve Kimberley. Although encountering severe fire, a massed cavalry charge split the Boer defenses on 15 February, opening the way for French to enter Kimberley that evening, ending its 124 days' siege.


  • Colenso, KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa
    Wednesday Feb 14, 1900
    Second Boer War

    Battle of the Tugela Heights

    Colenso, KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa
    Wednesday Feb 14, 1900

    In Natal, the Battle of the Tugela Heights, which started on 14 February was Buller's fourth attempt to relieve Ladysmith. The losses Buller's troops had sustained convinced Buller to adopt Boer tactics "in the firing line—to advance in small rushes, covered by rifle fire from behind; to use the tactical support of artillery; and above all, to use the ground, making rock and earth work for them as it did for the enemy." Despite reinforcements his progress was painfully slow against stiff opposition.


  • South Africa
    Saturday Feb 17, 1900
    Second Boer War

    Pincer movement involving both French's cavalry and the main British force attempted to take the entrenched position

    South Africa
    Saturday Feb 17, 1900

    On 17 February, a pincer movement involving both French's cavalry and the main British force attempted to take the entrenched position, but the frontal attacks were uncoordinated and so were easily repulsed by the Boers. Finally, Roberts resorted to bombarding Cronjé into submission, but it took a further ten precious days, and with the British troops using the polluted Modder River as water supply, there was a typhoid epidemic killing many troops. General Cronjé was forced to surrender at Surrender Hill with 4,000 men.


  • Paardeberg Drift, South Africa
    Sunday Feb 18, 1900
    Second Boer War

    Battle of Paardeberg

    Paardeberg Drift, South Africa
    Sunday Feb 18, 1900

    The Battle of Paardeberg or Perdeberg ("Horse Mountain") was a major battle during the Second Anglo-Boer War. It was fought near Paardeberg Drift on the banks of the Modder River in the Orange Free State near Kimberley. Lord Methuen advanced up the railway line in November 1899 with the objective of relieving the besieged city of Kimberley (and the town of Mafeking, also under siege). Battles were fought on this front at Graspan, Belmont, Modder River before the advance was halted for two months after the British defeat at the Battle of Magersfontein. In February 1900, Field Marshal Lord Roberts assumed personal command of a significantly reinforced British offensive.


  • Colenso, KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa
    Monday Feb 26, 1900
    Second Boer War

    Buller used all his forces in one all-out attack for the first time and at last succeeded in forcing a crossing of the Tugela

    Colenso, KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa
    Monday Feb 26, 1900

    On 26 February, after much deliberation, Buller used all his forces in one all-out attack for the first time and at last succeeded in forcing a crossing of the Tugela to defeat Botha's outnumbered forces north of Colenso.


  • Ladysmith, South Africa
    Tuesday Feb 27, 1900
    Second Boer War

    Siege lasting

    Ladysmith, South Africa
    Tuesday Feb 27, 1900

    After a siege lasting 118 days, the Relief of Ladysmith was effected, the day after Cronjé surrendered, but at a total cost of 7,000 British casualties. Buller's troops marched into Ladysmith on 28 February.


  • South Africa
    Mar, 1900
    Second Boer War

    Final phase of war

    South Africa
    Mar, 1900

    In the third and final phase, beginning in March 1900 and lasting a further two years, the Boers conducted a hard-fought guerrilla war, attacking British troop columns, telegraph sites, railways, and storage depots. To deny supplies to the Boer guerrillas, the British, now under the leadership of Lord Kitchener, adopted a scorched earth policy. They cleared whole areas, destroying Boer farms and moving the civilians into concentration camps.


  • Poplar Grove, South Africa
    Wednesday Mar 7, 1900
    Second Boer War

    Battle of Poplar Grove

    Poplar Grove, South Africa
    Wednesday Mar 7, 1900

    Battle of Poplar Grove. was an incident on 7 March 1900 during the Second Boer War in South Africa. It followed on from the Relief of Kimberley as the British Army moved to take the Boer capital of Bloemfontein. The Boers were demoralized following the surrender of Piet Cronjé at the Battle of Paardeberg.


  • South Africa
    Tuesday Mar 13, 1900
    Second Boer War

    Roberts then advanced into the Orange Free State from the west, putting the Boers to flight at the Battle of Poplar Grove and capturing Bloemfontein

    South Africa
    Tuesday Mar 13, 1900

    After a succession of defeats, the Boers realized that against such overwhelming numbers of troops, they had little chance of defeating the British and so became demoralized. Roberts then advanced into the Orange Free State from the west, putting the Boers to flight at the Battle of Poplar Grove and capturing Bloemfontein, the capital, unopposed on 13 March with the Boer defenders escaping and scattering. Meanwhile, he detached a small force to relieve Baden-Powell.


  • South Africa
    Thursday Mar 15, 1900
    Second Boer War

    Lord Roberts proclaimed an amnesty for all burghers, except leaders

    South Africa
    Thursday Mar 15, 1900

    On 15 March 1900, Lord Roberts proclaimed an amnesty for all burghers, except leaders, who took an oath of neutrality and returned quietly to their homes. It is estimated that between 12,000 and 14,000 burghers took this oath between March and June 1900.


  • Bloemfontein, South Africa
    Saturday Mar 31, 1900
    Second Boer War

    Sanna's Post

    Bloemfontein, South Africa
    Saturday Mar 31, 1900

    British observers believed the war to be all but over after the capture of the two capital cities. However, the Boers had earlier met at the temporary new capital of the Orange Free State, Kroonstad, and planned a guerrilla campaign to hit the British supply and communication lines. The first engagement of this new form of warfare was at Sanna's Post on 31 March where 1,500 Boers under the command of Christiaan de Wet attacked Bloemfontein's waterworks about 37 kilometres (23 mi) east of the city, and ambushed a heavily escorted convoy, which caused 155 British casualties and the capture of seven guns, 117 wagons, and 428 British troops.


  • South Africa
    May, 1900
    Second Boer War

    The First successes of the Boer guerrilla strategy

    South Africa
    May, 1900

    From late May 1900, the first successes of the Boer guerrilla strategy were at Lindley (where 500 Yeomanry surrendered), and at Heilbron (where a large convoy and its escort were captured) and other skirmishes resulting in 1,500 British casualties in less than ten days.


  • Mafeking, South Africa
    Friday May 18, 1900
    Second Boer War

    Relief of Mafeking

    Mafeking, South Africa
    Friday May 18, 1900

    The Relief of Mafeking on 18 May 1900 provoked riotous celebrations in Britain, the origin of the Edwardian slang word "mafficking".


  • South Africa
    Monday May 28, 1900
    Second Boer War

    Orange Free State was annexed and renamed the Orange River Colony

    South Africa
    Monday May 28, 1900

    On 28 May, the Orange Free State was annexed and renamed the Orange River Colony.


  • Pretoria, South Africa
    Tuesday Jun 5, 1900
    Second Boer War

    The Capital was captured

    Pretoria, South Africa
    Tuesday Jun 5, 1900

    Roberts was forced to halt again at Kroonstad for 10 days, due once again to the collapse of his medical and supply systems, but finally captured Johannesburg on 31 May and the capital of the Transvaal, Pretoria, on 5 June.


  • Bloemfontein, South Africa
    Jul, 1900
    Second Boer War

    General Archibald Hunter set out from Bloemfontein

    Bloemfontein, South Africa
    Jul, 1900

    As Roberts's army occupied Pretoria, the Boer fighters in the Orange Free State retreated into the Brandwater Basin, a fertile area in the north-east of the Republic. This offered only temporary sanctuary, as the mountain passes leading to it could be occupied by the British, trapping the Boers. A force under General Archibald Hunter set out from Bloemfontein to achieve this in July 1900. The hardcore of the Free State Boers under De Wet, accompanied by President Steyn, left the basin early. Those remaining fell into confusion and most failed to break out before Hunter trapped them.


  • South Africa
    Sunday Aug 26, 1900
    Second Boer War

    Broke the last defensive position

    South Africa
    Sunday Aug 26, 1900

    The set-piece period of the war now largely gave way to a mobile guerrilla war, but one final operation remained. President Kruger and what remained of the Transvaal government had retreated to eastern Transvaal. Roberts, joined by troops from Natal under Buller, advanced against them, and broke their last defensive position at Bergendal on 26 August.


  • South Africa
    Sep, 1900
    Second Boer War

    British were nominally in control of both Republics, with the exception of the northern part of Transvaal

    South Africa
    Sep, 1900

    By September 1900, the British were nominally in control of both Republics, with the exception of the northern part of Transvaal. However, they soon discovered that they only controlled the territory their columns physically occupied. Despite the loss of their two capital cities and half of their army, the Boer commanders adopted guerrilla warfare tactics, primarily conducting raids against railways, resource and supply targets, all aimed at disrupting the operational capacity of the British Army. They avoided pitched battles and casualties were light.


  • South Africa
    Monday Sep 3, 1900
    Second Boer War

    Roberts declared the war

    South Africa
    Monday Sep 3, 1900

    Roberts declared the war over on 3 September 1900; and the South African Republic was formally annexed.


  • South Africa
    Nov, 1900
    Second Boer War

    Christiaan de Wet returned to the Orange Free State

    South Africa
    Nov, 1900

    After having conferred with the Transvaal leaders, Christiaan de Wet returned to the Orange Free State, where he inspired a series of successful attacks and raids from the hitherto quiet western part of the country, though he suffered a rare defeat at Bothaville in November 1900.


  • South Africa
    Dec, 1900
    Second Boer War

    De la Rey and Christiaan Beyers attacked and mauled a British brigade at Nooitgedacht

    South Africa
    Dec, 1900

    In December 1900, De la Rey and Christiaan Beyers attacked and mauled a British brigade at Nooitgedacht. As a result of these and other Boer successes, the British, led by Lord Kitchener, mounted three extensive searches for Christiaan de Wet, but without success.


  • South Africa
    1900
    Second Boer War

    Second phase of war

    South Africa
    1900

    In the second phase, after the number of British troops was greatly increased under the command of Lord Roberts, the British launched another offensive in 1900 to relieve the sieges, this time achieving success. After Natal and the Cape Colony were secure, the British army was able to invade the Transvaal, and the republic's capital, Pretoria, was ultimately captured in June 1900.


  • South Africa
    Jan, 1900
    Second Boer War

    The Largest force Britain had ever sent overseas

    South Africa
    Jan, 1900

    The British government took these defeats badly and with the sieges still continuing was compelled to send 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.


  • Ladysmith, South Africa
    Tuesday Jan 23, 1900
    Second Boer War

    Battle of Spion Kop

    Ladysmith, South Africa
    Tuesday Jan 23, 1900

    The Battle of Spion Kop was fought about 38 km (24 mi) west-south-west of Ladysmith on the hilltop of Spioenkop along the Tugela River, Natal in South Africa from 23–24 January 1900. It was fought between the South African Republic and the Orange Free State on the one hand and British forces during the Second Boer War campaign to relieve Ladysmith. It resulted in a Boer victory. The battle, collectively with its location at a hill, has gone down in British football lore as the namesake of a common British term for single-tier terraces and/or stands at football stadia.


  • Ladysmith, South Africa
    Wednesday Jan 24, 1900
    Second Boer War

    British troops captured the summit by surprise

    Ladysmith, South Africa
    Wednesday Jan 24, 1900

    British troops captured the summit by surprise during the early hours of 24 January 1900, but as the early morning fog lifted they realised too late that they were overlooked by Boer gun emplacements on the surrounding hills. The result was 350 men killed and nearly 1,000 wounded and a retreat across the Tugela River into British territory. There were nearly 300 Boer casualties.


  • South Africa
    Jan, 1900
    Winston Churchill

    Churchill briefly rejoined the army as a lieutenant in the South African Light Horse regiment

    South Africa
    Jan, 1900

    In January 1900, Churchill briefly rejoined the army as a lieutenant in the South African Light Horse regiment, joining Redvers Buller's fight to relieve the Siege of Ladysmith and take Pretoria. He was among the first British troops in both places. He and his cousin, the 9th Duke of Marlborough, demanded and received the surrender of 52 Boer prison camp guards. Throughout the war, he had publicly chastised anti-Boer prejudices, calling for them to be treated with "generosity and tolerance", and after the war, he urged the British to be magnanimous in victory.


  • South Africa
    Saturday Feb 10, 1900
    Second Boer War

    Roberts launched his main attack

    South Africa
    Saturday Feb 10, 1900

    Roberts launched his main attack on 10 February 1900 and although hampered by a long supply route, managed to outflank the Boers defending Magersfontein. Field Marshal Frederick Sleigh Roberts, 1st Earl Roberts was a British Victorian era general who became one of the most successful British military commanders of his time. Born in India to an Anglo-Irish family, Roberts joined the East India Company Army and served as a young officer in the Indian Rebellion during which he won a Victoria Cross for gallantry. He was then transferred to the British Army and fought in the Expedition to Abyssinia and the Second Anglo-Afghan War, in which his exploits earned him widespread fame. Roberts would go on to serve as the Commander-in-Chief, India before leading British Forces to success in the Second Boer War. He also became the last Commander-in-Chief of the Forces before the post was abolished in 1904.


  • Kimberley, South Africa
    Wednesday Feb 14, 1900
    Second Boer War

    Cavalry division under Major General John French launched a major attack to relieve Kimberley

    Kimberley, South Africa
    Wednesday Feb 14, 1900

    On 14 February, a cavalry division under Major General John French launched a major attack to relieve Kimberley. Although encountering severe fire, a massed cavalry charge split the Boer defenses on 15 February, opening the way for French to enter Kimberley that evening, ending its 124 days' siege.


  • Colenso, KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa
    Wednesday Feb 14, 1900
    Second Boer War

    Battle of the Tugela Heights

    Colenso, KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa
    Wednesday Feb 14, 1900

    In Natal, the Battle of the Tugela Heights, which started on 14 February was Buller's fourth attempt to relieve Ladysmith. The losses Buller's troops had sustained convinced Buller to adopt Boer tactics "in the firing line—to advance in small rushes, covered by rifle fire from behind; to use the tactical support of artillery; and above all, to use the ground, making rock and earth work for them as it did for the enemy." Despite reinforcements his progress was painfully slow against stiff opposition.


  • South Africa
    Saturday Feb 17, 1900
    Second Boer War

    Pincer movement involving both French's cavalry and the main British force attempted to take the entrenched position

    South Africa
    Saturday Feb 17, 1900

    On 17 February, a pincer movement involving both French's cavalry and the main British force attempted to take the entrenched position, but the frontal attacks were uncoordinated and so were easily repulsed by the Boers. Finally, Roberts resorted to bombarding Cronjé into submission, but it took a further ten precious days, and with the British troops using the polluted Modder River as water supply, there was a typhoid epidemic killing many troops. General Cronjé was forced to surrender at Surrender Hill with 4,000 men.


  • Paardeberg Drift, South Africa
    Sunday Feb 18, 1900
    Second Boer War

    Battle of Paardeberg

    Paardeberg Drift, South Africa
    Sunday Feb 18, 1900

    The Battle of Paardeberg or Perdeberg ("Horse Mountain") was a major battle during the Second Anglo-Boer War. It was fought near Paardeberg Drift on the banks of the Modder River in the Orange Free State near Kimberley. Lord Methuen advanced up the railway line in November 1899 with the objective of relieving the besieged city of Kimberley (and the town of Mafeking, also under siege). Battles were fought on this front at Graspan, Belmont, Modder River before the advance was halted for two months after the British defeat at the Battle of Magersfontein. In February 1900, Field Marshal Lord Roberts assumed personal command of a significantly reinforced British offensive.


  • Colenso, KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa
    Monday Feb 26, 1900
    Second Boer War

    Buller used all his forces in one all-out attack for the first time and at last succeeded in forcing a crossing of the Tugela

    Colenso, KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa
    Monday Feb 26, 1900

    On 26 February, after much deliberation, Buller used all his forces in one all-out attack for the first time and at last succeeded in forcing a crossing of the Tugela to defeat Botha's outnumbered forces north of Colenso.


  • Ladysmith, South Africa
    Tuesday Feb 27, 1900
    Second Boer War

    Siege lasting

    Ladysmith, South Africa
    Tuesday Feb 27, 1900

    After a siege lasting 118 days, the Relief of Ladysmith was effected, the day after Cronjé surrendered, but at a total cost of 7,000 British casualties. Buller's troops marched into Ladysmith on 28 February.


  • South Africa
    Mar, 1900
    Second Boer War

    Final phase of war

    South Africa
    Mar, 1900

    In the third and final phase, beginning in March 1900 and lasting a further two years, the Boers conducted a hard-fought guerrilla war, attacking British troop columns, telegraph sites, railways, and storage depots. To deny supplies to the Boer guerrillas, the British, now under the leadership of Lord Kitchener, adopted a scorched earth policy. They cleared whole areas, destroying Boer farms and moving the civilians into concentration camps.


  • Poplar Grove, South Africa
    Wednesday Mar 7, 1900
    Second Boer War

    Battle of Poplar Grove

    Poplar Grove, South Africa
    Wednesday Mar 7, 1900

    Battle of Poplar Grove. was an incident on 7 March 1900 during the Second Boer War in South Africa. It followed on from the Relief of Kimberley as the British Army moved to take the Boer capital of Bloemfontein. The Boers were demoralized following the surrender of Piet Cronjé at the Battle of Paardeberg.


  • South Africa
    Tuesday Mar 13, 1900
    Second Boer War

    Roberts then advanced into the Orange Free State from the west, putting the Boers to flight at the Battle of Poplar Grove and capturing Bloemfontein

    South Africa
    Tuesday Mar 13, 1900

    After a succession of defeats, the Boers realized that against such overwhelming numbers of troops, they had little chance of defeating the British and so became demoralized. Roberts then advanced into the Orange Free State from the west, putting the Boers to flight at the Battle of Poplar Grove and capturing Bloemfontein, the capital, unopposed on 13 March with the Boer defenders escaping and scattering. Meanwhile, he detached a small force to relieve Baden-Powell.


  • South Africa
    Thursday Mar 15, 1900
    Second Boer War

    Lord Roberts proclaimed an amnesty for all burghers, except leaders

    South Africa
    Thursday Mar 15, 1900

    On 15 March 1900, Lord Roberts proclaimed an amnesty for all burghers, except leaders, who took an oath of neutrality and returned quietly to their homes. It is estimated that between 12,000 and 14,000 burghers took this oath between March and June 1900.


  • Bloemfontein, South Africa
    Saturday Mar 31, 1900
    Second Boer War

    Sanna's Post

    Bloemfontein, South Africa
    Saturday Mar 31, 1900

    British observers believed the war to be all but over after the capture of the two capital cities. However, the Boers had earlier met at the temporary new capital of the Orange Free State, Kroonstad, and planned a guerrilla campaign to hit the British supply and communication lines. The first engagement of this new form of warfare was at Sanna's Post on 31 March where 1,500 Boers under the command of Christiaan de Wet attacked Bloemfontein's waterworks about 37 kilometres (23 mi) east of the city, and ambushed a heavily escorted convoy, which caused 155 British casualties and the capture of seven guns, 117 wagons, and 428 British troops.


  • South Africa
    May, 1900
    Second Boer War

    The First successes of the Boer guerrilla strategy

    South Africa
    May, 1900

    From late May 1900, the first successes of the Boer guerrilla strategy were at Lindley (where 500 Yeomanry surrendered), and at Heilbron (where a large convoy and its escort were captured) and other skirmishes resulting in 1,500 British casualties in less than ten days.


  • Mafeking, South Africa
    Friday May 18, 1900
    Second Boer War

    Relief of Mafeking

    Mafeking, South Africa
    Friday May 18, 1900

    The Relief of Mafeking on 18 May 1900 provoked riotous celebrations in Britain, the origin of the Edwardian slang word "mafficking".


  • South Africa
    Monday May 28, 1900
    Second Boer War

    Orange Free State was annexed and renamed the Orange River Colony

    South Africa
    Monday May 28, 1900

    On 28 May, the Orange Free State was annexed and renamed the Orange River Colony.


  • Pretoria, South Africa
    Tuesday Jun 5, 1900
    Second Boer War

    The Capital was captured

    Pretoria, South Africa
    Tuesday Jun 5, 1900

    Roberts was forced to halt again at Kroonstad for 10 days, due once again to the collapse of his medical and supply systems, but finally captured Johannesburg on 31 May and the capital of the Transvaal, Pretoria, on 5 June.


  • Bloemfontein, South Africa
    Jul, 1900
    Second Boer War

    General Archibald Hunter set out from Bloemfontein

    Bloemfontein, South Africa
    Jul, 1900

    As Roberts's army occupied Pretoria, the Boer fighters in the Orange Free State retreated into the Brandwater Basin, a fertile area in the north-east of the Republic. This offered only temporary sanctuary, as the mountain passes leading to it could be occupied by the British, trapping the Boers. A force under General Archibald Hunter set out from Bloemfontein to achieve this in July 1900. The hardcore of the Free State Boers under De Wet, accompanied by President Steyn, left the basin early. Those remaining fell into confusion and most failed to break out before Hunter trapped them.


  • South Africa
    Sunday Aug 26, 1900
    Second Boer War

    Broke the last defensive position

    South Africa
    Sunday Aug 26, 1900

    The set-piece period of the war now largely gave way to a mobile guerrilla war, but one final operation remained. President Kruger and what remained of the Transvaal government had retreated to eastern Transvaal. Roberts, joined by troops from Natal under Buller, advanced against them, and broke their last defensive position at Bergendal on 26 August.


  • South Africa
    Sep, 1900
    Second Boer War

    British were nominally in control of both Republics, with the exception of the northern part of Transvaal

    South Africa
    Sep, 1900

    By September 1900, the British were nominally in control of both Republics, with the exception of the northern part of Transvaal. However, they soon discovered that they only controlled the territory their columns physically occupied. Despite the loss of their two capital cities and half of their army, the Boer commanders adopted guerrilla warfare tactics, primarily conducting raids against railways, resource and supply targets, all aimed at disrupting the operational capacity of the British Army. They avoided pitched battles and casualties were light.


  • South Africa
    Monday Sep 3, 1900
    Second Boer War

    Roberts declared the war

    South Africa
    Monday Sep 3, 1900

    Roberts declared the war over on 3 September 1900; and the South African Republic was formally annexed.


  • South Africa
    Nov, 1900
    Second Boer War

    Christiaan de Wet returned to the Orange Free State

    South Africa
    Nov, 1900

    After having conferred with the Transvaal leaders, Christiaan de Wet returned to the Orange Free State, where he inspired a series of successful attacks and raids from the hitherto quiet western part of the country, though he suffered a rare defeat at Bothaville in November 1900.


  • South Africa
    Dec, 1900
    Second Boer War

    De la Rey and Christiaan Beyers attacked and mauled a British brigade at Nooitgedacht

    South Africa
    Dec, 1900

    In December 1900, De la Rey and Christiaan Beyers attacked and mauled a British brigade at Nooitgedacht. As a result of these and other Boer successes, the British, led by Lord Kitchener, mounted three extensive searches for Christiaan de Wet, but without success.


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