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Military History – South Africa – Europe – England 19th Century
.Article – Online Historic Information | Military
.Page 23
A Boer Journal of the Boer War (London, Faber & Faber, 1929; Prescott, Arizona, Wolfe
Publishing, 1994); Reitz, Deneys, Trekking on (1933; Prescott, Arizona, Wolfe Publishing, 1994).
Biddulphsberg, Battle of,
29 May 1900
The battle at Biddulphsberg was a diversionary action undertaken by the British in order to ease
pressure on the 13th Imperial Yeomanry who were surrounded at Lindley. However, the British were
caught in the open by the Boers and were forced to retreat. The long grass caught fire at the height of
the engagement and wounded men, unable to move, died in the blaze.
To protect the eastern flank of the advance from Bloemfontein, Lord Roberts ordered Lieutenantgeneral Sir Leslie Rundle to come north-east from Thaba ’Nchu. Rundle’s 8th Division advanced to
Senekal, between Winburg and Bethlehem, which was taken from the Boers after a skirmish. In
response to Colonel B. Spragge’s appeal for assistance at Lindley, Rundle decided to mount a
diversionary attack on General A. I. de Villiers’s force near Biddulphsberg. However, the British
approach by the 2nd Grenadier Guards, 2nd Scots Guards and 2nd Royal West Kents, with 2nd and
79th Batteries, Royal Field Artillery, was observed. De Villiers placed the Senekal Commando on
the northwestern end of Biddulphsberg kopje with a 75mm Krupp and a Pom-Pom, and the Ladybrand
men under Fieldcornet P. Ferreira in ditches along the road running north, supported by another
75mm. With fire cover from the British artillery, which silenced the guns on the kopje, the British
came in curving clockwise from the north, but were then caught in the open by the riflemen, forcing
them to attempt a retreat. As they did so, the grass caught fire and British wounded burned to death.
De Villiers himself was severely wounded, and, beyond the help of his companions, was given into
British care. In spite of this he died in Senekal soon after. The rest of the Boers withdrew as
reinforcements arrived to support Rundle.
See also:
Bloemfontein, Advance from; Lindley, Battle of.
Reference:
Marix Evans, Martin, The Boer War: South Africa 1899–1902 (Oxford, Osprey Publishing, 1999).
Biggarsberg Mountains
The mountains of northern Natal, mapped by the British on a scale of one inch to the mile (1:63,360)
in 1896. The terrain was not favourable to the style of fighting to which the British were used and
suited better the more mobile Boers. In 1899 the British were forced to retreat from Dundee and were
besieged in Ladysmith, south of the Biggarsberg, until the end of February 1900. In May 1900 General
Sir Redvers Buller advanced swiftly and efficiently, winning actions at Helpmekaar and Botha’s Pass
because of his skill in co-ordinating artillery, infantry and mounted troop action and his access to
sound mapping.
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