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Battle Of Magersfontein
The Battle of MagersfonteinSpelt incorrectly in various English texts as "Majersfontein", "Maaghersfontein" and "Maagersfontein". ( ) was fought on 11 December 1899, at Magersfontein, near Kimberley, Northern Cape, Kimberley, South Africa, on the borders of the British Cape Colony, Cape Colony and the independent republic of the Orange Free State (now in Sol Plaatje Local Municipality, Northern Cape). United Kingdom, British forces under Lieutenant General Paul Sanford Methuen, 3rd Baron Methuen, Lord Methuen were advancing north along the railway line from the Cape to relieve the siege of Kimberley, but their path was blocked at Magersfontein by a Boer force that was entrenched in the surrounding hills. The British had already fought a series of battles with the Boers, most recently at Battle of Modder River, Modder River, where the advance was temporarily halted. Lord Methuen failed to perform adequate reconnaissance in preparation for the impending battle and was unaware that ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Second Boer War
The Second Boer War (, , 11 October 189931 May 1902), 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 (the South African Republic and Orange Free State) over Britain's influence in Southern Africa. The Witwatersrand Gold Rush caused a large influx of "Uitlander, foreigners" (''Uitlanders'') to the South African Republic (SAR), mostly British from the Cape Colony. As they, for fear of a hostile takeover of the SAR, were permitted to vote only after 14 years of residence, they protested to the British authorities in the Cape. Negotiations failed at the botched Bloemfontein Conference in June 1899. The conflict broke out in October after the British government decided to send 10,000 troops to South Africa. With a delay, this provoked a Boer and British ultimatum, and subsequent Boer Irregular military, irregulars and militia attacks on British colonial settlements in Natal ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Battle Of Modder River
The Battle of Modder River (, fought near the confluence of the Modder and Riet Rivers) was an engagement in the Boer War, fought at Modder River, on 28 November 1899. A British column under Lord Methuen, that was attempting to relieve the besieged town of Kimberley, forced Boers under General Piet Cronjé to retreat to Magersfontein, but suffered heavy casualties altogether. Background When the war broke out, one of the Boers' early targets was the diamond-mining centre of Kimberley, which stood not far from the point where the borders of the Boer republics of the Transvaal and the Orange Free State, and the British-controlled Cape Colony met. Although their forces surrounded the town, they did not press home any immediate assault. Nor did they attempt to cross the Orange River on this front to invade Cape Colony. Meanwhile, British reinforcements were on their way to South Africa. Their commander, General Sir Redvers Buller detached the 1st Division under Lieutenan ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Redvers Buller
General Sir Redvers Henry Buller, (7 December 1839 – 2 June 1908) was a British Army officer and a recipient of the Victoria Cross, the highest award for gallantry awarded to British and Commonwealth forces. He served as Commander-in-Chief of British Forces in South Africa during the early months of the Second Boer War and subsequently commanded the army in Natal until his return to England in November 1900. Origins Buller was the second son and eventual heir of James Wentworth Buller (1798–1865), MP for Exeter, by his wife Charlotte Juliana Jane Howard-Molyneux-Howard (d.1855), third daughter of Lord Henry Thomas Howard-Molyneux-Howard, Deputy Earl Marshal and younger brother of Bernard Howard, 12th Duke of Norfolk. Redvers Buller was born on 7 December 1839 at the family estate of Downes, near Crediton in Devon, inherited by his great-grandfather James Buller (1740–1772) from his mother Elizabeth Gould, the wife of James Buller (1717–1765), MP. The Bullers ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Hopetown
Hopetown is a town which lies at the edge of the Great Karoo in South Africa's Northern Cape province. It is situated on an arid slope leading down to the Orange River. The first diamond discovered in South Africa, the Eureka Diamond, was found at Hopetown. History Hopetown was founded in 1850 when Sir Sir Harry Smith, 1st Baronet, Harry Smith extended the northern frontier of the Cape Colony to the Orange River. A handful of settlers claimed ground where there was a natural ford over the Orange River, and by 1854 a frontier town had developed. Hopetown was named after William Hope (Cape Colony), William Hope, Auditor-General and Secretary of the Cape Colony Government at the time, and is often mistaken for a town in the Free State (province), Free State, South Africa, called Hoopstad. Hopetown was a quiet farming area until several large diamonds, most notable the Eureka Diamond and the Star of South Africa (Diamond), Star of South Africa, were discovered there between 18 ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Orange River
The Orange River (from Afrikaans/Dutch language, Dutch: ''Oranjerivier'') is a river in Southern Africa. It is the longest river in South Africa. With a total length of , the Orange River Basin extends from Lesotho into South Africa and Namibia to the north. It rises in the Drakensberg mountains in Lesotho, flowing westwards through South Africa to the Atlantic Ocean. The river forms part of the international borders between South Africa and Lesotho and between South Africa and Namibia, as well as several provincial borders within South Africa. Except for Upington, it does not pass through any major cities. The Orange River plays an important role in the South African economy by providing water for irrigation and Hydroelectricity, hydroelectric power. The river was named the Orange River in honour of the Dutch ruling family, the House of Orange-Nassau, House of Orange, by the Dutch explorer Robert Jacob Gordon. Other names include simply the word for river, in Khoekhoe language, ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Siege Of Mafeking
The siege of Mafeking was a 217-day siege battle for the town of Mafeking (now called Mahikeng) in South Africa during the Second Boer War from October 1899 to May 1900. The siege received considerable attention as Lord Edward Cecil, the son of the British prime minister, was in the besieged town, as also was Lady Sarah Wilson, a daughter of the Duke of Marlborough and aunt of Winston Churchill. The siege turned the British commander, Colonel Robert Baden-Powell, into a national hero. The Relief of Mafeking (the lifting of the siege), while of little military significance, was a morale boost for the struggling British. Prelude Shortly before the outbreak of the Second Boer War in 1899, Lord Wolseley, Commander-in-Chief of the British Army, who had failed to persuade the British government to send troops to the region, instead sent Colonel Robert Baden-Powell, accompanied by a handful of officers, to the Cape Colony to raise two regiments of mounted rifles from Rhodesia. ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Kimberley, South Africa
Kimberley is the Capital city, capital and largest city of the Northern Cape province of South Africa. It is located approximately 110 km east of the confluence of the Vaal River, Vaal and Orange Rivers. The city has considerable historical significance because of its diamond mining past and the Siege of Kimberley, siege during the Second Boer War, Second Boer War. The British businessmen Cecil Rhodes and Barney Barnato made their fortunes in Kimberley, and Rhodes also established the De Beers diamond company in the early days of the mining town. On 2 September 1882, Kimberley was the first city in the Southern Hemisphere and the second in the world after Philadelphia, in the United States, to install electricity, electric street lighting. The first stock exchange in Africa was built in Kimberley as early as 1881. History Discovery of diamonds In 1866, Erasmus Jacobs found a small brilliant pebble on the banks of the Orange River, on the farm ''De Kalk'' leased from l ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Siege Of Kimberley
The siege of Kimberley took place during the Second Boer War at Kimberley, Northern Cape, Kimberley, Cape Colony (present-day South Africa), when Boer forces from the Orange Free State and the South African Republic, 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. Outside Kimberley, the Boers treated the occupied territory as part of one of the republics, appointing a 'landdrost' (magistrate) and changing the name of the neighbouring town of Barkly West to Nieu Boshof. Cecil Rhodes, who had made his fortune in the town, and who controlled all the mining activities, moved into the town at the onset of the siege. His presence was controversial, as his involvement in the Jameson Raid made him one of the pr ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Battle Of Paardeberg
The Battle of Paardeberg or Perdeberg ("Horse Mountain", 18–27 February 1900) was a major battle during the Second Anglo-Boer War. It was fought near ''Paardeberg Ford (crossing), Drift'' on the banks of the Modder River in the Orange Free State near Kimberley, Northern Cape, Kimberley (now in Letsemeng Local Municipality, Free State (province), Free State). Paul Methuen, 3rd Baron Methuen, Lord Methuen advanced up the railway line in November 1899 with the objective of relieving the Siege of Kimberley (and the town of Siege of Mafeking, Mafeking, also under siege). Battles were fought on this front at Battle of Graspan, Graspan, Belmont, Battle of Modder River, Modder River before the advance was halted for two months after the British defeat at the Battle of Magersfontein. In February 1900, Field Marshal Frederick Roberts, 1st Earl Roberts, Lord Roberts assumed personal command of a significantly reinforced British offensive. The army of Boer General Piet Cronjé was retre ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Frederick Roberts, 1st Earl Roberts
Field marshal (United Kingdom), Field Marshal Frederick Sleigh Roberts, 1st Earl Roberts (30 September 1832 – 14 November 1914), 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, East India Company Army and served as a young officer in the Indian rebellion of 1857, Indian Rebellion during which he was awarded the Victoria Cross for gallantry. He was then transferred to the British Army and fought in the 1868 Expedition to Abyssinia, 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 for a year during the Second Boer War. He also became the last Commander-in-Chief of the Forces before the post was abolished in 1904. A man of small stature, Roberts was affectionately known to his troops and t ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Battle Of Colenso
The Second Battle of Colenso, also known as the Battle of Colenso, was the third and final battle fought during the Black Week of the Second Boer War. It was fought between British and Boer forces from the independent South African Republic and Orange Free State in and around Colenso, Natal, South Africa on 15 December 1899. Inadequate preparation, lack of reconnaissance and uninspired leadership led to a British defeat. Background Shortly before the outbreak of the war, General Sir Redvers Buller VC was dispatched to South Africa at the head of an army corps, and appointed Commander-in-Chief of British Forces in South Africa. On arrival, he found British garrisons besieged on widely separated fronts, with limited communications between the fronts. Having detached forces under Generals Lord Methuen and Gatacre to the western and central fronts, Buller assumed command of his largest detachment and proposed to lead it to the relief of a besieged British force in Ladysm ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Battle Of Stormberg
The Battle of Stormberg was a British assault on Stormberg Junction on 10 December 1899. At that time, the Boers had taken control of Molteno and the heights around Stormberg Junction, as part of their invasion of Cape Colony. William Gatacre, the general in command of troops in the Cape Midlands, decided to dislodge the Boers from their position in order to secure the railway lines which supplied the larger March on Kimberley by Lord Methuen. Due to a failed night march and a badly coordinated assault, the Boers repulsed the British army, with the Northumberland Fusiliers suffering high casualties. Background When the British first drew up a plan of campaign against the Boer republics, it was intended that the 3rd Division commanded by Major General William Forbes Gatacre would secure the area known as the Cape Midlands, immediately south of the Orange Free State, in preparation for an advance along the railway running from Cape Town to Bloemfontein. In the event, many of the d ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
