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Military History – South Africa – Europe – England 19th Century
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to seize Elandslaagte, surprising a supply train heading for the north, but capturing the next
arrival at the station. The train was looted and found to contain, amongst other things, case upon case
of whisky. This fuelled a bizarre concert party that evening at which both “God Save the Queen” and
the Transvaal Volkslied were sung. Colonel A. F. Schiel, with the German volunteers, followed up
and Kock and the rest of his force came down into the town on 20 October in order to select good
defensive positions. Schiel argued for better defensive positions to be chosen than those on the ridge
to the south-east which he held could too easily be outflanked, but Kock was not persuaded.
The presence of the Boers became known to the British by telegraph and Major-general Sir John
French, with five squadrons of Imperial Light Horse, the Natal Field Battery and four companies of
the Manchester Regiment, was sent to reconnoitre on 21 October. The Boers opened fire with two
75mm Krupps under the command of Major Erasmus of the Staatsartillerieand French telegraphed
for reinforcements. The 5th Lancers and 5th Dragoon Guards came up by road with the Natal Mounted
Rifles and two batteries of the Royal Field Artillery while the infantry, under Colonel Ian Hamilton,
came by train. The infantry comprised seven companies of the 1st Devonshire Regiment and five of
the 2nd Gordon Highlanders. The British total was now some 3,500 men and 18 guns. The Boers
numbered about 1,000 men, including the Johannesburg Commando under Commandant Ben Viljoen, a
contingent of South African Republic Police (ZARPs), the Vrede Commando and the foreign
volunteers, German and Dutch.
A brief skirmish against Schiel’s men ended with the Lancers and the Dragoons holding the
railway station. The principal action against the hills began in the mid-afternoon, with the Devons on
the left, the Manchesters and the Gordons on the right with the rest of the Lancers and the Imperial
Light Horse on their right flank. The advance stalled under Boer fire but the British artillery was
moved forward to provide covering fire and the British moved on. The sky grew dark and a
thunderstorm broke as the infantry struggled with the barbed wire of the farm fields. The Imperial
Light Horse under Colonel Scott Chisholme rushed the hill, the Gordons broke through the wire fence
and the British swarmed over the hill. The Devons came on with fixed bayonets. General Kock
attempted a counter-attack but was wounded; he was later stripped and his valuables looted. He was
not found until the next day and died ten days later.
Clearly defeated, the Boers fled. The Dragoons and Lancers at the station followed them, riding
them down with their lances, pulling up, turning and riding at them again. Many Boers turned to
surrender but were ridden down nonetheless, some needlessly, some because the momentum of a
cavalry charge is such that it cannot be stopped on a whim. The Boers regarded the Lancers as
barbarians for fighting with spears, and bore them lasting enmity.
The victory at Elandslaagte gave General Yule the opportunity to
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