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Military History – South Africa – Europe – England 19th Century
.Article – Online Historic Information | Military
.Page 38
sent the governor of Natal, Sir Theophilus Shepstone, to annex the republic. There was no
protest, the government having to all purposes fallen apart. British rule failed to improve the situation
and Boer missions to present their grievances were largely ignored. After the Zulu War of 1879 the
British attitude, if anything, hardened. The unwillingness of the Boers to pay taxes persisted under the
British as it had flourished under their own government, but the British responded by demanding the
payment of estimated sums, with the burden of proof of a lesser debt falling on the citizen. The matter
came to a head in the case of Piet Bezuidenhout who won his case but refused to pay costs. An
attempt to enforce the judgement was met by direct action by 100 burghers and followed by a mass
meeting at Paardekraal (now Krugersdorp). A Triumvirate of Paul Kruger, Piet Joubert and Marthinus
Pretorius was elected to form a government and war followed.
The British took steps to consolidate their forces in the Transvaal but the 94th Regiment, on their
way to Pretoria, was intercepted by the Boers at Bronkhorstspruit on 20 December 1880 and over
half their number were killed or wounded. Pretoria prepared for a siege. The governor of Natal,
Major-general Sir George Pomeroy-Colley was organising the Natal Field Force to put down what
the British saw as a uprising and what the Boers saw as a war of independence. Colley did not
succeed. In a series of battles in northern Natal – Langs (Laing’s) Nek on 28 January 1881, Ingogo
(Schuinshooghte) on 8 February and Majuba on 27 February – the British were comprehensively
defeated. At Majuba 78 per cent of officers and 58 per cent of other ranks were killed, wounded or
taken prisoner. Colley himself was killed. The British government, much to the anger of the army,
made peace and the Transvaal became quasi-independent, allowing Britain a voice only in foreign
affairs. When the second Boer war broke out in 1899, British regular soldiers were determined to
avenge the humiliating defeat at Majuba.
See also:
Paardeberg, Battle of.
Reference:
Castle, Ian, Majuba 1881 (London, Osprey Publishing, 1996); d’Assonville, V. E., The First War of
Independence,Marnix, www.battlefields.co.za/history/1st_war_of_independence/index.htm
Boshof, Battle of,
5 April 1900
Bloemfontein fell to Lord Roberts on 13 March 1900 and he stayed there in order to allow the army
to regroup and recover. The Boers undertook a few, limited operations during this period, including a
movement by the European Legion, strengthened with Boers, towards the town of Boshof. The
commander of this 150–man force was Frenchman Count G. H. A. V. de Villebois-Mareuil, who had
the rank of Vecht-general. He was a strong critic of the Boers’ tactics and discipline and, in an
attempt to demonstrate correct military conduct, was killed together with two other Frenchmen when
the British attacked them at a farm called Tweefontein, south-east of the town.
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