Colesberg codswallop
While looking for some maps of French’s campaign around Colesberg, I came across this entertaining website: www.karoobattlefields.com/colesberg This section of text caught my eye: The Boer strategy The Boers were fighting a primarily defensive war, occupying territory in Natal and the Cape Colony, and besieging British-held towns, to prevent the British from bringing the war
Boer War Bingo… The First Boer War
I have long noticed that each and every question about the Boer War can be guaranteed to prompt the same responses from a certain type of person. Indeed, so predictable is this, that I have come to think of it as ‘Boer War Bingo’, with the aim of the game to shout out (in no
No wonder the myth survives…
I stumbled across this entertaining alternative reality online: https://af.wikipedia.org/wiki/Zuid-Afrikaansche_Republiek Second Liberation War [ edit | edit source ] A border incident, intentionally caused by Rhodes and its accomplices, led to the outbreak of the Second Free War in 1899 , in which 35 000 Afrikaners fought against an army of 450 000 British soldiers. Despite the strong resistance of the Afrikaners and the successful guerrilla
On this day in 1899… Kruger’s Ultimatum
Despite the ‘head in the sand’ attitude adopted in London, Kruger’s belligerence had been pushing Southern Africa towards war for years. The much-delayed Boer ultimatum was finally sent to the British Colonial Office early on 10 October, 1899. Written by Reitz, it was verbose as ever, but nevertheless a remarkable communication – essentially a declaration