The Anglo-Boer Wars: The British and the Afrikaners, 1815–1902

184 Pages·1987·23.46 MB·English

by  Michael Barthorp

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MICHAELBARTHORP
BLANDFORD PRESS
LONDON NEW YORK SYDNEY
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First published in the UK 1987 by Blandford Press,
Artillery House, Artillery Row, London SW1P 1RT
©
Copyright 1987 Michael Barthorp
Reprinted1987
Reprinted1988
BritishLibraryCataloguinginPublicationData
Barthorp,Michael
TheBoerWars—1814-1908
1—.SouthAfrica Politicsa—ndgovernment
To18362.S—outhAfrica Politics
andgovernment 1836-1909
ITitle
968.04 DT770
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ISBN 0 7137 1658 4
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PrintedinGreatBritainatTheBathPress,Avon
Frontispiece:R.CatonWoodville’spainting
ofthecease-firefortheRoyalCanadiansatPaardeberg.
CONTENTS
Chronology ofEvents 6
Foreword 7
1 The Irreconcilables. 1815 1880 8
2 Unfit for a Corporal's Guard. January February 1881 19
3 The Hill of Doves. February August 1881 32
4 Using the Uitlanders. 1884 1899 44
5 Remember Majuba! 12 October 22 November 1899 51
6 An Invisible Enemy. Western Front, 21 November 11 December 1899 66
7 Black Week. Cape Colony and Natal, December 1899 81
8 The Dug-out Policeman. Natal, January February 1900 91
9 White Flag on the Modder. Orange Free State, February March 1900 100
10 My Brave Irish. Natal, 12 February 3 March 1900 113
11 With Roberts to Pretoria. 15 March 5 June 1900 120
12 Neither Victory nor Defeat. 6 June 25 September 1900 129
13 Kitchener Takes Command. 1 October 1900 15 May 1901 139
14 The Bitter End. 16 May 1901 9 April 1902 149
15 Good Friends Now. 10 April 31 May 1902 161
Endnotes 169
Picture Credits 171
Bibliography 172
Index 174
LIST OF MAPS
1 South Africa Endpapers
2 Northern Natal, 1881 22
3 Natal Front, October 1899 March 1900 64
4 Western Front, November 1899 February 1900 102
5 Orange Free State and Transvaal, May October 1900 130
6 The Blockhouse System, January 1901 May 1902 156
CHRONOLOGY
EVENTS PRECEDING AND BETWEEN THE BOER WARS
1652 DutchEastIndiaCompanyestablishessettlementatCapeof diamond fields. De Beers Mining Co. founded (1880) by Cecil
Good Hope, then inhabited only by aboriginal Bushmen and Rhodes.
Hottentots. 1872 CapeColonygrantedinternalself-government.
1779 First conflict between Cape Dutch and Kaffir (Bantu) 1876 LondonConferencetodiscussfederationofBoerRepublics
invadersfromnorth-east. andBritishColonies;thwartedbyoppositionofCapeGovernment.
1795-1802 Revolutionary France occupies Holland and es- 1877 Transvaal, bankruptand threatened byZulus, annexedas
tablishes puppet Batavian Republic. Britain, at war with France, BritishColony.
occupiesCape. Minorinsurrection byCapeDutch(Boers). 1879 TheZuluWar.
1803 CapereturnedtoBatavianRepublicafterPeaceofAmiens. 1880-81 TheFirstBoeror TransvaalWar. Transvaal granted
1805 Britain, again at war with NapoleonicFrance, re-occupies internal self-government, Britain retaining control ofits foreign
Cape. affairs. PaulKrugerbeganfirstoffourPresidentialterms.
1812 British and Boers combine to resist further Kaffir inva- 1884 London Convention grants Transvaal (South African
sion on eastern frontier. (Five more Kaffir Wars followed until Republic) greater independence. Germany annexes South-West
1877.) Africa.
1814 Napoleonabdicates. HollandcedesCapeColonytoBritain. 1885 BechuanalandannexedbyBritaintopreventwestwardand
1815 Boer uprising at Slachter's Nek. Six leaders hanged for eastward expansion by Boer Republics and German SW Africa
insurrection. respectively.
1820 Btitish immigrationtoCape. 1886 Gold discovered in Witwatersrand (Transvaal); influx of
1824 British traders settle in Zululand, at Port Natal (Durban), Britishand foreignimmigrants('Uitlanders').
with Zulu permission. 1887 Zululandannexed byBritaintopreventBoerexpansionto
1826 CapeColonyextended northwardstoOrangeRiver. eastcoast.
1834 AbolitionofslaveryatCapealienatesBoers. 1890 Cecil Rhodes's British South Africa Co. occupies and
1835 BritishGovernment refusespetitionofDurbansettlersfor establishes Rhodesia (Matabeleland and Mashonaland) on
annexation. Transvaal's northern frontier. Rhodes Prime Minister of Cape
1836 GreatTrekofBoersfromCapeColonynorthacrossOrange Colony.
and Vaalrivers;alsointoNatalafterdefeatingZulus(1838). 1895 Britain linksCapeColony toNataland blocksTransvaal's
1838-9 TemporaryoccupationofDurban byBritishtroops. accesstoIndianOceanbyannexationofKaffraria(1875),StLucia
1841 Instability of Boer republic in Natal. British re-occupy Bay (1884), Pondoland (1893) and Togoland (1895). Pretoria-
Durbanand areattacked by Boers. Delagoa Bay(PortugueseEastAfrica)Railwayopened.
1843 Natal annexed as British colony. Most Boers leave for 1896 Jameson's Raid into Transvaal in support of Uitlanders
Transvaal. defeated. RhodesresignsasCapePremier.
1845 British troops crossOrange Riverto protectGriquasfrom 1897 SirAlfred Milnerappointed BritishHighCommissionerat
Boers. Boersdispersed atZwartkopjes(30April). Cape. Military pact between Transvaal and OFS. Transvaal re-
1846 BritishResidentappointedatBloemfontein. Actionagainst arms.
BoersatVetRiver. 1899 March. British Uitlanderspetition,withMilner'ssupport,
1848 Trans-OrangeterritoryannexedtoCapeColonyasOrange forBritish Government intercession. June. Bloemfontein Confer-
River Sovereignty. Boers rebel but defeated at Boomplaats (29 ence (Kruger-Milner) Milner breaks off negotiations. August.
August). Uitlanders begin leaving Transvaal. September. British Govern-
1852 BritainrecognizesindependenceofTransvaal. ment authorizes 10,000 reinforcements for Natal garrison.
1854 BritainrecognizesindependenceofOrangeFreeState(OFS). Transvaaland OFSmobilize. October. 1stArmyCorpsmobilized
1868 Basutoland annexedasBritishCrownColony. inBritain. Krugerissuesultimatum, expiring 11 October.
1871 Kimberley(OFS)annexedtoCapeColonyafterdiscoveryof 1899-1902 TheSecondBoer War.
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