A History of the Anglo-Boer War

Between 1842 and 1902, Dutch-speaking settlers ('Boers') who had formed independent republics in Southern Africa fought a series of wars against the expansionist British Empire. The final confrontation lasted three years and was the most bitterly contested. Faced with an unacceptable British ultimatum, the Transvaal and the Orange Free State declared war on Britain in October 1899, hoping to force a conclusion in their favour before the British had time to bring reinforcements to South Africa.

Initially, the ZAR (Transvaal) and OFS forces successfully invaded British territory, pinning down and besieging garrisons at Ladysmith, Kimberley and Mafeking and repulsing counter-attacks along the Tugela River. However, they failed to press their advantage or fully utilise the mobility of the commandos, and by June 1900 an enormous field force commanded by Lord Roberts had marched northward to capture Bloemfontein and Pretoria, respective capitals of the OFS and ZAR.

The British announced the annexation of the two Boer republics and assumed that the war was over; in truth, it had only just begun. Although some citizen soldiers of the OFS and ZAR did turn in their weapons and return to their farms, many vowed to carry on the fight against the British under the leadership of such renowned generals as De Wet, Botha, Smuts and De La Rey. The Free Staters, who had initially been reluctant to enter the war, put up particularly fanatical resistance. President Steyn of the OFS declared that they would fight 'to the bitter end' and he remained in the field with the commandos to the last.

In this phase of the war, the Boers made optimum use of their mobility, local knowledge and individual initiative to attack British forces wherever they were most vulnerable and evade the attempts to bring them to bay. Though their clothes were in rags and their boots worn through, they fought on with captured rifles until 1902, making several attempts to invade the Cape Colony and raise a rebellion among the Dutch-speaking citizens of the Empire.

Eventually, the British Empire forces in South Africa numbered some 400,000 but the Boer commandos were only beaten by methods bordering on the atrocious. Farms and villages were razed, livestock and crops destroyed in order to deprive the commandos of sustenance. The human inhabitants were driven into camps where many were to die, children in particular, as a result of malnutrition and disease. In addition, the former republics were criss-crossed by a network of barbed wire fences and blockhouses designed to limit the mobility of the commandos. With no hope in sight, the remaining commandos surrendered under terms at Vereeniging on 31 May 1902.