Battle of Bothaville
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The Battle of Bothaville (Doornkraal) on 6 November 1900 was a rare defeat of Christiaan de Wet's Boer commando at the hands of a force of British
Mounted Infantry Mounted infantry were infantry who rode horses instead of marching. The original dragoons were essentially mounted infantry. According to the 1911 ''Encyclopædia Britannica'', "Mounted rifles are half cavalry, mounted infantry merely speciall ...
(MI).


Battle

De Wet was one of the most successful Boer commanders of the
Second Boer War The Second Boer War ( af, Tweede Vryheidsoorlog, , 11 October 189931 May 1902), also known as the Boer War, the Anglo–Boer War, or the South African War, was a conflict fought between the British Empire and the two Boer Republics (the So ...
, disrupting British supply lines almost with impunity. On 6 November, De Wet camped at
Bothaville Bothaville is a maize farming town situated near the Vaal River in the Lejweleputswa District Municipality, Lejweleputswa DM of the Free State (South African province), Free State province, South Africa. It is situated 60 km east of the Vaal, ...
on the Valsch River with 800
Orange Free State The Orange Free State ( nl, Oranje Vrijstaat; af, Oranje-Vrystaat;) was an independent Boer sovereign republic under British suzerainty in Southern Africa during the second half of the 19th century, which ceased to exist after it was defeat ...
commandos. His party included the president of the Free State,
Marthinus Steyn Martinus (or Marthinus) Theunis Steyn (; 2 October 1857 – 28 November 1916) was a South African lawyer, politician, and statesman. He was the sixth and last president of the independent republic the Orange Free State from 1896 to 1902. Earl ...
. De Wet was aware that Maj. Gen. Charles Knox's greatly superior British all-arms force was camped away and believed that his outposts would give him adequate warning of any enemy moves. What he did not know was that the men at his main outpost had fallen asleep.Pakenham, p 502 Shortly after dawn, right after De Wet received a reassuring report from a scout, Knox's 600-man advance guard, the 5th and 8th MI under Lieutenant-Colonel P. W. J. Le Gallais appeared only from the Boer camp. For once, De Wet was surprised and a panic ensued in the Boer camp. Because his adjutant had kept a horse saddled, President Steyn was able to escape. The bulk of De Wet's commando fled for their lives on horseback, but a hard core of about 150 men stayed behind and fought it out with the MI. The two sides went to ground or occupied farm buildings and blazed away with rifles and even field guns at close range. "The heroism displayed on both sides made it one of the most ferocious and gruesome little actions of the war." The battle went on for four hours before Knox belatedly showed up with his infantry force. At that point, one surviving officer, Major
William Hickie Major General Sir William Bernard Hickie, (21 May 1865 – 3 November 1950) was an Irish-born senior British Army officer and an Irish nationalist politician. As a British Army officer Hickie saw active service in the Second Boer War from 1899 ...
, led the MI in a bayonet charge. This quickly produced a Boer surrender. The MI wanted to shoot two Boers who were found with dum-dum bullets, but Knox humanely stopped this. To the irritation of the MI officers, Knox and his staff seemed preoccupied with dividing the spoils in the captured Boer camp. There was no pursuit.


Aftermath

The Boers lost 25 killed and about 130 captured, including 30 men wounded. De Wet also had to abandon four
Krupp The Krupp family (see pronunciation), a prominent 400-year-old German dynasty from Essen, is notable for its production of steel, artillery, ammunition and other armaments. The family business, known as Friedrich Krupp AG (Friedrich Krupp ...
field guns, a pom pom, and two artillery pieces captured from the British at the battles of Colenso and
Sanna's Post Sanna's Post (a.k.a. Korn Spruit) was an engagement fought during the Second Boer War (1899-1902) between the British Empire and the Boers of the two independent republics of the Orange Free State and the South African Republic. Background In e ...
. British losses were also serious: about 38 men either wounded or killed in action. Le Gallais died that night of his wounds. Lieutenant-Colonel Wally Ross of the 8th MI was severely wounded in the face. Because of Knox's failure to pursue, most of De Wet's force got away intact and soon began operating against British garrisons and supply convoys again. A furious Hickie wrote, "The General is an old woman... If Knox had the same dash as Le Gallais we should have taken the whole lot, bagged the whole crowd."Pakenham, p 503 Serious losses of materiel had also been inflicted on the Boers, including six field-guns, a
Maxim gun The Maxim gun is a recoil-operated machine gun invented in 1884 by Hiram Stevens Maxim. It was the first fully automatic machine gun in the world. The Maxim gun has been called "the weapon most associated with imperial conquest" by historian ...
and a pom-pom, all de Wet's wagons carrying gun and small-arms ammunition as well as clothing and other supplies. Despite this, de Wet remained in the field and, within a fortnight, struck back at the British at the head of 1,500 burghers.


Footnotes


References

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Further reading

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Bothaville Battles of the Second Boer War Conflicts in 1900 Battle of Bothaville November 1900 events