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Military History – South Africa – Europe – England 19th Century
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lowered morale sapped their endurance and they eventually gave way. Their inability to stand
led to the decision not to contest Bloemfontein. The British were unable to mop up the fugitives as a
result of the damage done to the cavalry horses during the relief of Kimberley.
After the rout at Poplar Grove in March 1900, Christiaan De Wet fell back some fifteen miles
(24km) to Abraham’s Kraal where he left his force briefly to assist Judge Hertzog in organising the
defences of Bloemfontein. On his return he found that Vecht-generals De la Rey, who had withdrawn
from Colesberg, Andries Cronjé, Philip Botha, C. C. Froneman and Piet De Wet, his brother, had
placed the men on a line from Abraham’s Kraal in the north, on the Modder River, along the
Driefontein kopjes to the Boschrand, south of the Petrusberg to Bloemfontein road.
The British advanced in three columns and engaged the whole Boer front. De Wet reports that
the shelling was heavy, first on Abraham’s Kraal and then in the centre, where De la Rey’s
Transvaalers were. Brigadier-general T. E. Stephenson’s 18th Brigade attacked, along with the 1st
Essex and 1st Welsh supported by 13th Brigade’s 2nd The Buffs (East Kent) and 2nd Gloucesters. By
late in the day they had taken the hills by bayonet attacks against the Johannesburg and Pretoria Police
under Philip Botha and the cavalry were coming round the southern flank of the Boer positions. Once
more the burghers broke. De Wet wrote: “They had offered a magnificent resistance . . . But with the
setting of the sun a change came over them. Once more panic seized them; leaving their positions, they
retreated in all haste towards Bloemfontein.” The fatigue of the British cavalry once more prevented
them from catching the fleeing Boers.
See also:
Kimberley, Relief of; Paardeberg, Battle of; Poplar Grove, Battle of.
Reference:
Baker, Anthony, Battles & Battlefields of the Anglo-Boer War 1899–1902 (Milton Keynes, The
Military Press, 1999); De Wet, Christiaan, Three Years War (London, Archibald Constable,
1902).
Drift
A ford across a river.
Drives
Drives or sweeps were used to attempt to gather up Boer commandos during the guerrilla phases of
the war. They were organised in much the same way as game is driven towards the guns of hunters.
The difficulty was, of course, creating a sufficiently impermeable screen of sweepers.
For example, in January 1901 Major-general French used 22,000 men in eight columns, moving
south-east from lines running north from Johannesburg to Pretoria and east from there to the border.
They moved off on 28 January from the western side and on 3 February from the northern flank,
virtually enveloping Ermelo by 5 February. The quarry was Commandant-general Botha. As they
advanced the British swept the
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