Battle of Bothaville
Encyclopedia
The Battle of Bothaville (Doornkraal) on 6 November 1900 was a rare defeat of Christiaan de Wet
's Boer commando at the hands of a force of British Mounted Infantry
(MI).
, disrupting British supply lines almost with impunity. On 6 November, De Wet camped at Bothaville
on the Valsch River with 800 Orange Free State
commandos. His party included the president of the Free State, Marthinus Steyn. De Wet was aware that Maj. Gen. Charles Knox
's greatly superior British all-arms force was camped 7 miles (11.3 km) away and believed that his outposts would give him adequate warning of any enemy moves. What he did not know was that the men at his main outpost had fallen asleep.
Shortly after dawn, right after De Wet received a reassuring report from a scout, Knox's 600-man advance guard, the 5th and 8th MI under Lieutenant-Colonel P. W. J. Le Gallais appeared only 300 yards (274.3 m) from the Boer camp. For once, De Wet was surprised and a panic ensued in the Boer camp. Because his adjutant had kept a horse ready saddled, President Steyn was able to escape. The bulk of De Wet's commando fled for their lives on horseback, but a hard core of about 150 men stayed behind and fought it out with the MI. The two sides went to ground or occupied farm buildings and blazed away with rifles and even field guns at close range. "The heroism displayed on both sides made it one of the most ferocious and gruesome little actions of the war."
The battle went on for four hours before Knox belatedly showed up with his infantry force. At that point, one surviving officer, Major William Bernard Hickie
, led the MI in a bayonet charge. This quickly produced a Boer surrender. The MI wanted to shoot two Boers who were found with dum-dum bullets, but Knox humanely stopped this. To the irritation of the MI officers, Knox and his staff seemed preoccupied with dividing the spoils in the captured Boer camp. There was no pursuit.
and Sanna's Post
. British losses were also serious: about 38 men either wounded or killed in action. Le Gallais died that night of his wounds. Lieutenant-Colonel Wally Ross
of the 8th MI was severely wounded in the face. Because of Knox's failure to pursue, most of De Wet's force got away intact and soon began operating against British garrisons and supply convoys again. A furious Hickie wrote, "The General is an old woman... If Knox had the same dash as Le Gallais we should have taken the whole lot, bagged the whole crowd."Serious losses of materiel had also been inflicted on the Boers, including six field-guns, a Maxim gun
and a pom-pom, all de Wet's wagons carrying gun and small-arms ammunition as well as clothing and other supplies. Despite this, de Wet remained in the field and, within a fortnight, struck back at the British at the head of 1,500 burghers
.
Christiaan De Wet
Christiaan Rudolf de Wet was a Boer general, rebel leader and politician.He was born on the Leeuwkop farm, in the district of Smithfield in the Boer Republic of the Orange Free State...
's Boer commando at the hands of a force of British Mounted Infantry
Mounted infantry
Mounted infantry were soldiers who rode horses instead of marching, but actually fought on foot . The original dragoons were essentially mounted infantry...
(MI).
Battle
De Wet was one of the most successful Boer commanders of the Second Boer WarSecond Boer War
The Second Boer War was fought from 11 October 1899 until 31 May 1902 between the British Empire and the Afrikaans-speaking Dutch settlers of two independent Boer republics, the South African Republic and the Orange Free State...
, disrupting British supply lines almost with impunity. On 6 November, De Wet camped at Bothaville
Bothaville
Bothaville is a maize farming town situated near the Vaal River in the Lejweleputswa DM of the Free State province, South Africa. It is situated 6km east of the Vaal, on the bank of its Vals River tributary...
on the Valsch River with 800 Orange Free State
Orange Free State
The Orange Free State was an independent Boer republic in southern Africa during the second half of the 19th century, and later a British colony and a province of the Union of South Africa. It is the historical precursor to the present-day Free State province...
commandos. His party included the president of the Free State, Marthinus Steyn. De Wet was aware that Maj. Gen. Charles Knox
Charles Knox
Charles C. Knox is an American composer and music educator. He is particularly noted for his music for brass instruments and chamber music, among his over 100 compositions to date.Knox received a B.F.A...
's greatly superior British all-arms force was camped 7 miles (11.3 km) away and believed that his outposts would give him adequate warning of any enemy moves. What he did not know was that the men at his main outpost had fallen asleep.
Shortly after dawn, right after De Wet received a reassuring report from a scout, Knox's 600-man advance guard, the 5th and 8th MI under Lieutenant-Colonel P. W. J. Le Gallais appeared only 300 yards (274.3 m) from the Boer camp. For once, De Wet was surprised and a panic ensued in the Boer camp. Because his adjutant had kept a horse ready saddled, President Steyn was able to escape. The bulk of De Wet's commando fled for their lives on horseback, but a hard core of about 150 men stayed behind and fought it out with the MI. The two sides went to ground or occupied farm buildings and blazed away with rifles and even field guns at close range. "The heroism displayed on both sides made it one of the most ferocious and gruesome little actions of the war."
The battle went on for four hours before Knox belatedly showed up with his infantry force. At that point, one surviving officer, Major William Bernard Hickie
William Bernard Hickie
Sir William Bernard Hickie was an Irish born Major General of the British Army and an Irish nationalist politician....
, led the MI in a bayonet charge. This quickly produced a Boer surrender. The MI wanted to shoot two Boers who were found with dum-dum bullets, but Knox humanely stopped this. To the irritation of the MI officers, Knox and his staff seemed preoccupied with dividing the spoils in the captured Boer camp. There was no pursuit.
Aftermath
The Boers lost 25 killed and about 130 captured, including 30 men wounded. De Wet also had to abandon four Krupp field guns, a pom pom, and two artillery pieces captured from the British at the battles of ColensoBattle of Colenso
The Battle of Colenso was the third and final battle fought during the Black Week of the Second Boer War. It was fought between British and Boer forces from the independent South African Republic and Orange Free State in and around Colenso, Natal, South Africa on 15 December 1899.Inadequate...
and Sanna's Post
Sanna's Post
-References:* Three Years War, by Christiaan Rudolf De Wet, 1st American Edition, published by Charles Scribner's Sons in 1902* The Great Boer War, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, originally published in 1902; republished by IndyPublish.com in 2002, ISBN 1-4043-0472-X* Goodbye Dolly Gray: The Story of...
. British losses were also serious: about 38 men either wounded or killed in action. Le Gallais died that night of his wounds. Lieutenant-Colonel Wally Ross
Wally Ross
Wallace “Wally” Ross is a modern sailing pioneer. As co-author of Sail Power in 1975, Ross contributed to the sport’s final intellectualization after 1971 when Arvel Gentry completed his sail theory work using computational fluid dynamics...
of the 8th MI was severely wounded in the face. Because of Knox's failure to pursue, most of De Wet's force got away intact and soon began operating against British garrisons and supply convoys again. A furious Hickie wrote, "The General is an old woman... If Knox had the same dash as Le Gallais we should have taken the whole lot, bagged the whole crowd."Serious losses of materiel had also been inflicted on the Boers, including six field-guns, a Maxim gun
Maxim gun
The Maxim gun was the first self-powered machine gun, invented by the American-born British inventor Sir Hiram Maxim in 1884. It has been called "the weapon most associated with [British] imperial conquest".-Functionality:...
and a pom-pom, all de Wet's wagons carrying gun and small-arms ammunition as well as clothing and other supplies. Despite this, de Wet remained in the field and, within a fortnight, struck back at the British at the head of 1,500 burghers
Burgher people
The Burghers are a Eurasian ethnic group, historically from Sri Lanka, consisting for the most part of male-line descendants of European colonists from the 16th to 20th centuries and local women, with some minorities of Swedish, Norwegian, French and Irish.Today the mother tongue of the Burghers...
.