Battle of Paardeberg
Encyclopedia
The Battle of Paardeberg or Perdeberg ("Horse Mountain") was a major battle during the Second Anglo-Boer War. It was fought near Paardeberg Drift
on the banks of the Modder River
in the Orange Free State
near Kimberley
.
Lord Methuen
advanced up the railway line in November 1899 with the objective of relieving the besieged city of Kimberley
(and the town of Mafeking
, also under siege). Battles were fought on this front at Graspan, Colenso
, Modder River
before the advance was halted for two months after the British defeat at the Battle of Magersfontein
. In February 1900, Field Marshal Lord Roberts
assumed personal command of a significantly reinforced British offensive.
The army of Boer
General Piet Cronjé
was retreating from its entrenched position at Magersfontein
towards Bloemfontein
after its lines of communication were cut by Major General John French
, whose cavalry had recently outflanked the Boer position to relieve Kimberley. Cronje's slow-moving column was intercepted by French at Paardeberg, where the Boer general eventually surrendered after a prolonged siege, having fought off an attempted direct assault by Lieutenant General Horatio Kitchener.
, had been opposed by Boers under Cronjé and Koos de la Rey
. Although the Boers had failed to prevent the British crossing the Modder River
on 28 November, they had fought them to a standstill at the Battle of Magersfontein
13 days later, inflicting heavy casualties.
Over the next two months, the front south of Kimberley stagnated. A substantial Boer detachment under De la Rey was sent to Colesberg where, in contrast to the situation elsewhere, the Boers were being driven back by a roughly equal British force. Cronjé's remaining forces were weakened by lack of grazing for their horses. Many of the Boer fighters' families joined Cronjé's main encampment at Jacobsdal
. The presence of large numbers of non-combatants with their slow-moving ox-drawn wagons would later prove a fatal handicap to Cronjé.
had been appointed to command the British forces in South Africa in December, 1899, succeeding General Buller
. (Roberts had just learned that his son Freddy
had been mortally wounded at the Battle of Colenso
.)
Like Buller, Roberts at first intended to make a direct thrust on the Boer capitals of Bloemfontein
and Pretoria
, using the central railway line from Cape Town
to these two capital cities as his line of communication. Also like Buller, he found on arrival in South Africa that public opinion both in Britain and South Africa was clamouring for the relief of British forces besieged at Ladysmith
, Kimberley and Mafeking and was forced to modify his plans.
Leaving Buller in command of the attempt to relieve Ladysmith, Roberts collected large numbers of reinforcements which had recently arrived in South Africa along the railway line between the Orange
and Modder rivers. He intended to outflank the Boer left and pass his cavalry around them to relieve Kimberley, while his infantry secured vital fords behind them. Roberts had two infantry divisions (the 6th and the 7th) each of two infantry brigades, and a mounted division of three brigades under Major General John French
. Another infantry division (the 9th, under Lieutenant General Henry Edward Colville
) was formed during the campaign.
While Methuen's 1st Division demonstrated against the Boer entrenchments at Magersfontein and the Highland Brigade
under Major General Hector MacDonald
marched 20 miles (32.2 km) westward to Koedoesberg and fixed the Boers' attention to their right flank, Roberts's large force began marching east in secret, late on 11 February. By the evening of 12 February, his leading horsemen had secured fords across the first obstacle, the Riet River
. The next day, 13 February, the British mounted force made a gruelling march of 30 miles (48.3 km) under a blazing sun to capture fords across the Modder. The effect of the heat was made worse when the dry grass of the veld caught fire from a carelessly discarded match. French's division had to wait at the fords (at Klip Drift) during the next day until the leading infantry reached them, after making an equally exhausting march. Luckily for the British, the move had taken the Boers by surprise and they did not move in strength to defend the fords or the hills nearby.
Early on 15 February, French's division began the final march to relieve Kimberley. Only scattered and disorganised Boers opposed them, and the enormous mass of British horsemen broke through their thin line, concealed in the dust cloud they created. Late that evening they reached Kimberley, where they were greeted with cheering crowds. French should by rights have gone to the military commander of the besieged garrison, Lieutenant Colonel Kekewich
. Instead he called first on Cecil Rhodes
, the former Prime Minister of Cape Colony and foremost Imperialist, at the town's chief hotel.
The final day's ride had crippled most of French's division. Most of his British regular cavalry carried too much equipment and their unacclimatised horses (and those of the seven batteries of horse artillery) were exhausted. His effective force was reduced to two regiments of New Zealand and Australian light horse, and two "brigades" (actually battalions) of mounted infantry. French was to further tire his men on 16 February by futile attempts to intercept one of the Boers' Creusot 40-pounder siege gun
s (nicknamed "Long Tom") which was withdrawing to the north.
. Their position at Magersfontein was no longer relevant and they were in danger of being besieged in Jacobsdal by the British 7th Division under Lieutenant General Tucker, which had turned west from Klip Drift. On the night of the 15th, the large convoy of Boer ox-wagons passed between the rear of French's division and the outposts of Lieutenant General Thomas Kelly-Kenny
's 6th Division at the Modder fords. Throughout the next day, the Boer mounted rearguards prevented the British 6th Division (with only one understrength mounted infantry unit) overtaking them. On the 17th, the large convoy of Boer wagons reached the crossing of the Modder at Paardeberg Drift. They were starting to cross the river when a force of 1,500 British mounted troops, almost all of French's fit horses and men who had covered the 40 miles (64.4 km) from Kimberley in another desperately tiring march, opened fire on them unexpectedly from the north, causing confusion.
Cronjé then inadvisedly decided to form a laager and dig in on the banks of the Modder river. His reasons for doing so are unclear. The British now outnumbered his force significantly and enjoyed overwhelming superiority in artillery. All the British would have to do was lay siege to the Boer position and bombard them at their leisure. On the other hand, the British had insufficient cavalry and it would have been an easy matter for Cronjé to brush them aside and link up other Boers east of the Modder; those under noted commander Christiaan De Wet
who were only 30 miles (48.3 km) away to the south-east and other forces under Chief Commandant Ignatius S. Ferreira a similar distance to the north.
, was now in overall command of the British force. He had different plans, and overruled Kelly-Kenny.
Kitchener proceeded to order his infantry and mounted troops into a series of uncoordinated frontal assaults against the Boer laager. This was despite the fact that the cost of frontal assaults against entrenched Boers had been demonstrated time and again the preceding months. It was no different this time. The British were shot down in droves. It is thought that not a single British soldier got within 200 yards (182.9 m) of the Boer lines. By nightfall some 24 officers and 279 men were killed and 59 officers and 847 men wounded. Judged by British casualties it was the most severe reverse of the war and became known as Bloody Sunday
.
Kelly-Kenny had warned Kitchener not to leave "Kitchener's Kopje" undefended. Possession of the kopje was essential to guard the south-east of the British position and prevent Cronjé's escape. But Kitchener, in his zeal for an all-out attack, had left the kopje defended by only a handful of "Kitchener's Horse" (volunteer British colonists). De Wet was therefore able to take the kopje with little resistance. The strategic picture had now changed dramatically. De Wet could now make the British position on the south east bank of the Modder untenable, and the Boers now commanded a swathe of front stretching from the north east right through to the south east. As darkness fell, Kitchener ordered his troops to dig in where they were. Few received these orders and fewer still obeyed them. Desperately thirsty and exhausted, the surviving British trickled back into camp. Rescue for Cronjé now seemed the likely outcome.
But seen from the Boer side, things were also bad. Cronjé and his men had been in headlong retreat for several days with the British snapping at their heels. While casualties from the bombardment had been reduced to around 100 dead and 250 wounded by the soft bank of the Modder, the horses, oxen and wagons had no trenches in which to shelter. Many wagons were destroyed. Ammunition exploded and stores were ruined. For many of the Burghers, these wagons carried all their worldly possessions. The loss of their horses was even worse, for the horse was almost as important to the fighting ability of a Boer as his Mauser rifle. The morale in Cronjé's laager was desperate.
The following day Roberts and Kitchener again planned to launch more assaults, but were firmly resisted by the other British senior officers. By 21 February, Roberts was intent on withdrawing, but to do so would have allowed Cronjé to escape. The Boers withdrew first. De Wet, faced with an entire British division who might be reinforced at any time, and fearing for his men's safety, withdrew his commandos from the south east. Ferreira's forces, which might have supported De Wet, had been left without direction after Ferreira was accidentally shot dead by one of his own sentries. Cronjé had inexplicably refused to abandon his laager. Now De Wet had to abandon Cronjé.
Cronjé's encampment was subjected to an increasingly heavy artillery bombardment, as more guns (including a battery of 5-inch medium howitzers and another of 1-pounder "pom-poms"
) joined the besieging British forces. Almost every horse, mule and ox was killed, and the stench and flies became unbearable. On the final day of the battle, the Royal Canadian Regiment of Infantry
, having lost more than 70 soldiers in an earlier charge against sheltered Boer positions, were again called to take the lead in the routine daily battalion rotation. Instead of another charge the next morning as was expected, the Canadians, with the help of Royal Engineers, advanced at night towards the Boer camp, then set about digging trenches on high ground 65 yards from the Boer lines. On 27 February 1900, the Boers woke up staring into the muzzles of Canadian rifles and surrendered. Cronjé surrendered with some 4,019 men and 50 women; around 10% of the Boers' entire army were now prisoners.
The Boer War marked the first ever overseas deployment of the Canadian Army
. The Toronto company of the Royal Canadian Regiment had joined the Queensland Mounted Infantry in dispersing a Boer commando at Sunnyside and Belmont
in the Western Cape in January.
The account of this battle and of Cronje's surrender is given in much greater depth by AB Paterson, war correspondent for the Sydney Morning Herald, "embedded" with the New South Wales Lancers. Paterson states that Cronje had decided on the previous night to surrender at 6am on February 27th as his supplies were exhausted, but when the Canadians attacked at 4am he refused to be hurried and fought for two hours at a cost to the Canadians of "15 or 20 shot and many more wounded", then surrendered at 6am as planned, and with some considerable degree of dignity. This account differs slightly in detail to that above and deserves to be noted.<"From the Front, AB Paterson's Dispatches from the Boer War" /ed RWF Droogleever. Pan MacMillan Australia 2000.>
Ford (crossing)
A ford is a shallow place with good footing where a river or stream may be crossed by wading or in a vehicle. A ford is mostly a natural phenomenon, in contrast to a low water crossing, which is an artificial bridge that allows crossing a river or stream when water is low.The names of many towns...
on the banks of the Modder River
Modder River
The Modder River is a river in South Africa that forms part of the border between the Northern Cape and the Free State provinces.Modder River may also refer to:* Modder River, Northern Cape - A small town in the Northern Cape....
in the 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...
near Kimberley
Kimberley, Northern Cape
Kimberley is a city in South Africa, and the capital of the Northern Cape. It is located near the confluence of the Vaal and Orange Rivers. The town has considerable historical significance due its diamond mining past and siege during the Second Boer War...
.
Lord Methuen
Paul Methuen, 3rd Baron Methuen
Field Marshal Paul Sanford Methuen, 3rd Baron Methuen GCB, GCMG, GCVO was a British military commander.-Early life:...
advanced up the railway line in November 1899 with the objective of relieving the besieged city of Kimberley
Siege of Kimberley
The Siege of Kimberley took place during the Second Boer War at Kimberley, Cape Colony , when Boer forces from the Orange Free State and the Transvaal besieged the diamond mining town. The Boers moved quickly to try to capture the British enclave when war broke out between the British and the two...
(and the town of Mafeking
Siege of Mafeking
The Siege of Mafeking was the most famous British action in the Second Boer War. It took place at the town of Mafeking in South Africa over a period of 217 days, from October 1899 to May 1900, and turned Robert Baden-Powell, who went on to found the Scouting Movement, into a national hero...
, also under siege). Battles were fought on this front at Graspan, Colenso
Battle 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...
, Modder River
Battle of Modder River
The Battle of Modder River was an engagement in the Boer War, fought at Modder River, on 28 November 1899...
before the advance was halted for two months after the British defeat at the Battle of Magersfontein
Battle of Magersfontein
The Battle of MagersfonteinSpelt incorrectly in various English texts as "Majersfontein", "Maaghersfontein" and "Maagersfontein". was fought on 11 December 1899, at Magersfontein near Kimberley on the borders of the Cape Colony and the independent republic of the Orange Free State...
. In February 1900, Field Marshal Lord Roberts
Frederick Roberts, 1st Earl Roberts
Field Marshal Frederick Sleigh Roberts, 1st Earl Roberts, Bt, VC, KG, KP, GCB, OM, GCSI, GCIE, KStJ, PC was a distinguished Indian born British soldier who regarded himself as Anglo-Irish and one of the most successful British commanders of the 19th century.-Early life:Born at Cawnpore, India, on...
assumed personal command of a significantly reinforced British offensive.
The army of Boer
Boer
Boer is the Dutch and Afrikaans word for farmer, which came to denote the descendants of the Dutch-speaking settlers of the eastern Cape frontier in Southern Africa during the 18th century, as well as those who left the Cape Colony during the 19th century to settle in the Orange Free State,...
General Piet Cronjé
Piet Cronje
Pieter Arnoldus Cronjé, commonly known as Piet Cronjé was a general of the South African Republic's military forces during the Anglo-Boer wars of 1880-1881 and 1899-1902....
was retreating from its entrenched position at Magersfontein
Magersfontein
The MagersfonteinMisspelt "Maaghersfontein" in some British texts battlefield is a site of the Battle of Magersfontein , part of the Second Boer War in South Africa. The battlefield is located at south of Kimberley, Northern Cape Province, South Africa and can be reached either via the airport...
towards Bloemfontein
Bloemfontein
Bloemfontein is the capital city of the Free State Province of South Africa; and, as the judicial capital of the nation, one of South Africa's three national capitals – the other two being Cape Town, the legislative capital, and Pretoria, the administrative capital.Bloemfontein is popularly and...
after its lines of communication were cut by Major General John French
John French, 1st Earl of Ypres
Field Marshal John Denton Pinkstone French, 1st Earl of Ypres, KP, GCB, OM, GCVO, KCMG, ADC, PC , known as The Viscount French between 1916 and 1922, was a British and Anglo-Irish officer...
, whose cavalry had recently outflanked the Boer position to relieve Kimberley. Cronje's slow-moving column was intercepted by French at Paardeberg, where the Boer general eventually surrendered after a prolonged siege, having fought off an attempted direct assault by Lieutenant General Horatio Kitchener.
Situation in February, 1900
An earlier British attempt to relieve Kimberley, led by Lieutenant General Lord MethuenPaul Methuen, 3rd Baron Methuen
Field Marshal Paul Sanford Methuen, 3rd Baron Methuen GCB, GCMG, GCVO was a British military commander.-Early life:...
, had been opposed by Boers under Cronjé and Koos de la Rey
Koos de la Rey
General Jacobus Herculaas de la Rey , known as Koos de la Rey, was a Boer general during the Second Boer War and is widely regarded as being one of the strongest military leaders during that conflict....
. Although the Boers had failed to prevent the British crossing the Modder River
Modder River
The Modder River is a river in South Africa that forms part of the border between the Northern Cape and the Free State provinces.Modder River may also refer to:* Modder River, Northern Cape - A small town in the Northern Cape....
on 28 November, they had fought them to a standstill at the Battle of Magersfontein
Battle of Magersfontein
The Battle of MagersfonteinSpelt incorrectly in various English texts as "Majersfontein", "Maaghersfontein" and "Maagersfontein". was fought on 11 December 1899, at Magersfontein near Kimberley on the borders of the Cape Colony and the independent republic of the Orange Free State...
13 days later, inflicting heavy casualties.
Over the next two months, the front south of Kimberley stagnated. A substantial Boer detachment under De la Rey was sent to Colesberg where, in contrast to the situation elsewhere, the Boers were being driven back by a roughly equal British force. Cronjé's remaining forces were weakened by lack of grazing for their horses. Many of the Boer fighters' families joined Cronjé's main encampment at Jacobsdal
Jacobsdal
Jacobsdal is a small farming town at in the Free State province of South Africa with various crops under irrigation, such as grapes, potatoes, lucerne and groundnuts...
. The presence of large numbers of non-combatants with their slow-moving ox-drawn wagons would later prove a fatal handicap to Cronjé.
British plans
Field Marshal RobertsFrederick Roberts, 1st Earl Roberts
Field Marshal Frederick Sleigh Roberts, 1st Earl Roberts, Bt, VC, KG, KP, GCB, OM, GCSI, GCIE, KStJ, PC was a distinguished Indian born British soldier who regarded himself as Anglo-Irish and one of the most successful British commanders of the 19th century.-Early life:Born at Cawnpore, India, on...
had been appointed to command the British forces in South Africa in December, 1899, succeeding General Buller
Redvers Buller
General Sir Redvers Henry Buller VC GCB GCMG was an English recipient of the Victoria Cross, the highest and most prestigious award for gallantry in the face of the enemy that can be awarded to British and Commonwealth forces....
. (Roberts had just learned that his son Freddy
Frederick Hugh Sherston Roberts
Frederick Hugh Sherston Roberts VC , son of the famous Victorian commander Field Marshal Frederick Roberts, 1st Earl Roberts, was born in Umballa, India, and received the Victoria Cross, the highest and most prestigious award for gallantry in the face of the enemy that can be awarded to British and...
had been mortally wounded at the Battle of Colenso
Battle 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...
.)
Like Buller, Roberts at first intended to make a direct thrust on the Boer capitals of Bloemfontein
Bloemfontein
Bloemfontein is the capital city of the Free State Province of South Africa; and, as the judicial capital of the nation, one of South Africa's three national capitals – the other two being Cape Town, the legislative capital, and Pretoria, the administrative capital.Bloemfontein is popularly and...
and Pretoria
Pretoria
Pretoria is a city located in the northern part of Gauteng Province, South Africa. It is one of the country's three capital cities, serving as the executive and de facto national capital; the others are Cape Town, the legislative capital, and Bloemfontein, the judicial capital.Pretoria is...
, using the central railway line from Cape Town
Cape Town
Cape Town is the second-most populous city in South Africa, and the provincial capital and primate city of the Western Cape. As the seat of the National Parliament, it is also the legislative capital of the country. It forms part of the City of Cape Town metropolitan municipality...
to these two capital cities as his line of communication. Also like Buller, he found on arrival in South Africa that public opinion both in Britain and South Africa was clamouring for the relief of British forces besieged at Ladysmith
Ladysmith, KwaZulu-Natal
Ladysmith is a city in the Uthukela District of KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa. It is north-west of Durban and south of Johannesburg. Important industries in the area include food processing, textile and tyre production...
, Kimberley and Mafeking and was forced to modify his plans.
Leaving Buller in command of the attempt to relieve Ladysmith, Roberts collected large numbers of reinforcements which had recently arrived in South Africa along the railway line between the Orange
Orange River
The Orange River , Gariep River, Groote River or Senqu River is the longest river in South Africa. It rises in the Drakensberg mountains in Lesotho, flowing westwards through South Africa to the Atlantic Ocean...
and Modder rivers. He intended to outflank the Boer left and pass his cavalry around them to relieve Kimberley, while his infantry secured vital fords behind them. Roberts had two infantry divisions (the 6th and the 7th) each of two infantry brigades, and a mounted division of three brigades under Major General John French
John French, 1st Earl of Ypres
Field Marshal John Denton Pinkstone French, 1st Earl of Ypres, KP, GCB, OM, GCVO, KCMG, ADC, PC , known as The Viscount French between 1916 and 1922, was a British and Anglo-Irish officer...
. Another infantry division (the 9th, under Lieutenant General Henry Edward Colville
Henry Edward Colville
Major-General Sir Henry Edward Colville KCMG CB was an English soldier.-Biography:Colville was born at Kirkby Hall, Leicestershire. He was the son of Charles Robert Colville and Hon. Katherine Sarah Georgina Russell....
) was formed during the campaign.
Relief of Kimberley
Highland Brigade (Scottish)
The Highland Brigade is a historical unit of the British Army, which has been formed a number of times. It recruited men from the Highlands of Scotland.-Crimean War:...
under Major General Hector MacDonald
Hector MacDonald
Major-General Sir Hector Archibald MacDonald, also known as Fighting Mac , was a distinguished Victorian soldier....
marched 20 miles (32.2 km) westward to Koedoesberg and fixed the Boers' attention to their right flank, Roberts's large force began marching east in secret, late on 11 February. By the evening of 12 February, his leading horsemen had secured fords across the first obstacle, the Riet River
Riet River
The Riet River is a westward-flowing tributary of the Vaal River in central South Africa, of which a major tributary, in turn, is the Modder River. In precolonial times the Riet was known as the Gama-!ab , a !Kora name meaning muddy...
. The next day, 13 February, the British mounted force made a gruelling march of 30 miles (48.3 km) under a blazing sun to capture fords across the Modder. The effect of the heat was made worse when the dry grass of the veld caught fire from a carelessly discarded match. French's division had to wait at the fords (at Klip Drift) during the next day until the leading infantry reached them, after making an equally exhausting march. Luckily for the British, the move had taken the Boers by surprise and they did not move in strength to defend the fords or the hills nearby.
Early on 15 February, French's division began the final march to relieve Kimberley. Only scattered and disorganised Boers opposed them, and the enormous mass of British horsemen broke through their thin line, concealed in the dust cloud they created. Late that evening they reached Kimberley, where they were greeted with cheering crowds. French should by rights have gone to the military commander of the besieged garrison, Lieutenant Colonel Kekewich
Robert Kekewich
Major General Robert George Kekewich CB was a Victorian era British Army officer.Kekewich was the second son of Trehawke Kekewich, of Peamore House, near Exeter, Devon, and the grandson of Samuel Trehawke Kekewich...
. Instead he called first on Cecil Rhodes
Cecil John Rhodes
Cecil John Rhodes PC, DCL was an English-born South African businessman, mining magnate, and politician. He was the founder of the diamond company De Beers, which today markets 40% of the world's rough diamonds and at one time marketed 90%...
, the former Prime Minister of Cape Colony and foremost Imperialist, at the town's chief hotel.
The final day's ride had crippled most of French's division. Most of his British regular cavalry carried too much equipment and their unacclimatised horses (and those of the seven batteries of horse artillery) were exhausted. His effective force was reduced to two regiments of New Zealand and Australian light horse, and two "brigades" (actually battalions) of mounted infantry. French was to further tire his men on 16 February by futile attempts to intercept one of the Boers' Creusot 40-pounder siege gun
155 mm Creusot Long Tom
The 155 mm Creusot Long Tom was a French field gun manufactured by Schneider et Cie in Le Creusot, France and used by the Boers in the Second Boer War.-Second Boer War:...
s (nicknamed "Long Tom") which was withdrawing to the north.
Cronjé's move to Paardeberg
Also on 15 February, Cronjé's men, some 5,000 Transvaalers and Freestaters, finally evacuated their laager at JacobsdalJacobsdal
Jacobsdal is a small farming town at in the Free State province of South Africa with various crops under irrigation, such as grapes, potatoes, lucerne and groundnuts...
. Their position at Magersfontein was no longer relevant and they were in danger of being besieged in Jacobsdal by the British 7th Division under Lieutenant General Tucker, which had turned west from Klip Drift. On the night of the 15th, the large convoy of Boer ox-wagons passed between the rear of French's division and the outposts of Lieutenant General Thomas Kelly-Kenny
Thomas Kelly-Kenny
General Sir Thomas Kelly-Kenny GCB GCVO was a British Army general who served in the Second Boer War.-Military career:Kelly-Kenny was born on 27 February 1840 at Doolough Lodge, Treanmanagh near Mullagh in County Clare, Ireland. He was educated as a lay student at St. Patrick's College, Carlow, he...
's 6th Division at the Modder fords. Throughout the next day, the Boer mounted rearguards prevented the British 6th Division (with only one understrength mounted infantry unit) overtaking them. On the 17th, the large convoy of Boer wagons reached the crossing of the Modder at Paardeberg Drift. They were starting to cross the river when a force of 1,500 British mounted troops, almost all of French's fit horses and men who had covered the 40 miles (64.4 km) from Kimberley in another desperately tiring march, opened fire on them unexpectedly from the north, causing confusion.
Cronjé then inadvisedly decided to form a laager and dig in on the banks of the Modder river. His reasons for doing so are unclear. The British now outnumbered his force significantly and enjoyed overwhelming superiority in artillery. All the British would have to do was lay siege to the Boer position and bombard them at their leisure. On the other hand, the British had insufficient cavalry and it would have been an easy matter for Cronjé to brush them aside and link up other Boers east of the Modder; those under noted commander Christiaan De Wet
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...
who were only 30 miles (48.3 km) away to the south-east and other forces under Chief Commandant Ignatius S. Ferreira a similar distance to the north.
Bloody Sunday
Lieutenant General Kelly-Kenny, commanding the British 6th Division, had a sound plan to lay siege to Cronjé and bombard his force into surrender. This would almost certainly have proved successful and cost the British very few casualties. However, Roberts was ill, and his Chief of Staff, Lieutenant General Herbert KitchenerHerbert Kitchener, 1st Earl Kitchener
Field Marshal Horatio Herbert Kitchener, 1st Earl Kitchener KG, KP, GCB, OM, GCSI, GCMG, GCIE, ADC, PC , was an Irish-born British Field Marshal and proconsul who won fame for his imperial campaigns and later played a central role in the early part of the First World War, although he died halfway...
, was now in overall command of the British force. He had different plans, and overruled Kelly-Kenny.
Kitchener proceeded to order his infantry and mounted troops into a series of uncoordinated frontal assaults against the Boer laager. This was despite the fact that the cost of frontal assaults against entrenched Boers had been demonstrated time and again the preceding months. It was no different this time. The British were shot down in droves. It is thought that not a single British soldier got within 200 yards (182.9 m) of the Boer lines. By nightfall some 24 officers and 279 men were killed and 59 officers and 847 men wounded. Judged by British casualties it was the most severe reverse of the war and became known as Bloody Sunday
Bloody Sunday (1900)
For other incidents referred to by this name, see Bloody Sunday.Bloody Sunday of February 18, 1900, was a day of high Imperial casualties in the Second Boer War.It occurred on the first day of the Battle of Paardeberg...
.
Kelly-Kenny had warned Kitchener not to leave "Kitchener's Kopje" undefended. Possession of the kopje was essential to guard the south-east of the British position and prevent Cronjé's escape. But Kitchener, in his zeal for an all-out attack, had left the kopje defended by only a handful of "Kitchener's Horse" (volunteer British colonists). De Wet was therefore able to take the kopje with little resistance. The strategic picture had now changed dramatically. De Wet could now make the British position on the south east bank of the Modder untenable, and the Boers now commanded a swathe of front stretching from the north east right through to the south east. As darkness fell, Kitchener ordered his troops to dig in where they were. Few received these orders and fewer still obeyed them. Desperately thirsty and exhausted, the surviving British trickled back into camp. Rescue for Cronjé now seemed the likely outcome.
But seen from the Boer side, things were also bad. Cronjé and his men had been in headlong retreat for several days with the British snapping at their heels. While casualties from the bombardment had been reduced to around 100 dead and 250 wounded by the soft bank of the Modder, the horses, oxen and wagons had no trenches in which to shelter. Many wagons were destroyed. Ammunition exploded and stores were ruined. For many of the Burghers, these wagons carried all their worldly possessions. The loss of their horses was even worse, for the horse was almost as important to the fighting ability of a Boer as his Mauser rifle. The morale in Cronjé's laager was desperate.
Siege
As the sun came up on the morning of Monday, 19 February, General Roberts arrived on the scene. He initially urged a resumption of the frontal assaults, but Cronjé requested a cease-fire to bury the dead. The British refused and Cronjé replied "If you are so uncharitable as to refuse me a truce as requested, then you may do as you please. I shall not surrender alive. Bombard as you will." The truce communications had taken up much of the day and there was no time for any more assaults.The following day Roberts and Kitchener again planned to launch more assaults, but were firmly resisted by the other British senior officers. By 21 February, Roberts was intent on withdrawing, but to do so would have allowed Cronjé to escape. The Boers withdrew first. De Wet, faced with an entire British division who might be reinforced at any time, and fearing for his men's safety, withdrew his commandos from the south east. Ferreira's forces, which might have supported De Wet, had been left without direction after Ferreira was accidentally shot dead by one of his own sentries. Cronjé had inexplicably refused to abandon his laager. Now De Wet had to abandon Cronjé.
Boer surrender
QF 1 pounder pom-pom
The QF 1 pounder, universally known as the pom-pom, was an early 37 mm British autocannon. It was used by several countries initially as an infantry gun and later as a light anti-aircraft gun. The name comes from the sound it makes when firing....
) joined the besieging British forces. Almost every horse, mule and ox was killed, and the stench and flies became unbearable. On the final day of the battle, the Royal Canadian Regiment of Infantry
The Royal Canadian Regiment
The Royal Canadian Regiment is an infantry regiment of the Canadian Forces. The regiment consists of four battalions, three in the Regular Force and one in the Primary Reserve...
, having lost more than 70 soldiers in an earlier charge against sheltered Boer positions, were again called to take the lead in the routine daily battalion rotation. Instead of another charge the next morning as was expected, the Canadians, with the help of Royal Engineers, advanced at night towards the Boer camp, then set about digging trenches on high ground 65 yards from the Boer lines. On 27 February 1900, the Boers woke up staring into the muzzles of Canadian rifles and surrendered. Cronjé surrendered with some 4,019 men and 50 women; around 10% of the Boers' entire army were now prisoners.
The Boer War marked the first ever overseas deployment of the Canadian Army
Canadian Forces Land Force Command
The Canadian Army , previously called Land Force Command, is responsible for army operations within the Canadian Forces. The current size of the Army is 19,500 regular soldiers and 16,000 reserve soldiers, for a total of around 35,500 soldiers...
. The Toronto company of the Royal Canadian Regiment had joined the Queensland Mounted Infantry in dispersing a Boer commando at Sunnyside and Belmont
Battle of Belmont (1899)
The Battle of Belmont is the name of an engagement of the Second Boer War near the town of Belmont, 23 November 1899, where the British under Lord Methuen assaulted a Boer position on a kopje....
in the Western Cape in January.
The account of this battle and of Cronje's surrender is given in much greater depth by AB Paterson, war correspondent for the Sydney Morning Herald, "embedded" with the New South Wales Lancers. Paterson states that Cronje had decided on the previous night to surrender at 6am on February 27th as his supplies were exhausted, but when the Canadians attacked at 4am he refused to be hurried and fought for two hours at a cost to the Canadians of "15 or 20 shot and many more wounded", then surrendered at 6am as planned, and with some considerable degree of dignity. This account differs slightly in detail to that above and deserves to be noted.<"From the Front, AB Paterson's Dispatches from the Boer War" /ed RWF Droogleever. Pan MacMillan Australia 2000.>
See also
- Bombardment in the Second Boer WarBombardment in the Second Boer WarThe Second Boer War saw attempted application of bombardment as an alternative to the use of ground forces. In most battles fought during the conflict this was proved not to be possible. There was competition from the other side’s ability to undertake evasive measures. The opponent was able to use...
- Military history of South AfricaMilitary history of South AfricaThe history of South Africa chronicles a vast time period and complex events from the dawn of history until the present time. It covers civil wars and wars of aggression and of self-defense both within South Africa and against it...
- Battle of Poplar GroveBattle of Poplar GroveThe Battle of Poplar Grove on 7 March 1900 followed on from the Relief of Kimberley during the Second Boer War as the British army moved to take the Boer capital of Bloemfontein. The Boers were demoralised following the surrender of Piet Cronje at the Battle of Paardeberg...
- Douglas MonypennyDouglas MonypennyDouglas Blackwell Monypenny was a Scottish international rugby player, who was killed in the Second Boer War, and is the only Scottish rugby internationalist known to have died in either conflict. He was twenty one at the time.He was capped three times for in the 1899 Home Nations Championship,...
External links
- Battle of Paardeberg at Canadian War MuseumCanadian War MuseumThe Canadian War Museum is Canada’s national museum of military history. Located in Ottawa, Ontario, the museum covers all facets of Canada’s military past, from the first recorded instances of death by armed violence in Canadian history several thousand years ago to the country’s most recent...