27.—Important positions captured near Dalmanutha. British loss considerable. Five British officers and fifty-three men killed; six officers and 123 men wounded; others taken prisoners. Troops despatched to Natal, Sept. and Oct. Insulting Boer Ultimatum, making war inevitable, Oct. 9. Waggons lost. 25.—Capture of Viljoen near Kruger’s Post by detachment of Royal Irish under Major Orr. The term Boer, derived from the Afrikaans word for farmer, was used to describe the people in southern Africa who traced their ancestry to Dutch, German and French Huguenot settlers. Orders issued for mobilising the Militia. It was written by an unabashad supporter of the British Empire and its war against the Boers, and the author does not hide his bias at all: the Boers are depicted as ruffians, villains, and illegitimate rulers of their own lands. 14.—Orders given for the mobilisation of a Sixth Division, and a Seventh in reserve. 27.—Attack on British at Roodeval Spruit. 1897.—Judicial Crisis in South African Republic. “Call to arms” at Cape Town. 28.—H.M.S. The Boers came to embrace a new-found sense of nationalism and sought to establish themselves as an independent Boer nation, dedicated to Calvinism and a Dutch way of life. The British may have faced defeat early on but the tide was about to turn. 1875-80.—Lord Carnarvon's scheme for making the different colonies and states of South Africa into a confederation with common administration and common legislation in national matters. 26.—Sir Charles Warren arrived at the Natal front. 9.—Klerksdorp surrendered to General Hunter. General Brabant entered the town in the morning, the Boers taking to flight. Why Does South Africa Have Three Capital Cities. The 4th Earl of Carnarvon was the British Secretary of State for the Colonies under Prime Minister Benjamin Disraeli, who was premier from 1868 to 1880. De Wet, after being turned northward by General Knox, moved towards Reddersburg. Sir George Colley takes command of our troops, January. 4.—Capture of British troops by the Boers near Reddersburg. 20.—Boer positions attacked at Dewetsdorp. The attempt of Botha and De Wet to invade Natal foiled. 15.—Members of the late Governments met together to discuss Peace proposals. 14.—Rearguard of Colonel Byng’s column attacked near Heilbron by 400 of the enemy under De Wet. 3.—Return of General Buller to Lydenburg after having marched through the whole of the hilly country to the north as far as Pilgrim’s Rest, and having occupied the principal Boer positions. Boer general Piet Cronjé surrendered to the British along with more than 4,000 men. Activities in Cape Colony to frustrate Hertzog’s advance. Lord Methuen reported capture of thirty-two Boers. Bethlehem captured by Generals Clements and Paget. Ninety-three prisoners taken. Nevertheless, the strong-arm tactics of the British against the Boers eventually served their purpose. By late February, British forces had managed to move up strategic railway lines and finally relieve Kimberley and Ladysmith from Boer besiegement. 12.—Almond’s Nek having been forced the previous day, the Boers evacuated Laing’s Nek and Majuba at nightfall, and General Buller encamped four miles north of Volksrust. 26.—Mooi River Column joined at Frere by General Hildyard. Captain Hon. The battle of Diamond Hill. In late February 1881, the British lost a total of 280 soldiers at Majuba, while the Boers are said to have suffered only one single casualty. 26.—Boer attack repulsed near Senekal, and enemy’s laager burned. 8.—Municipal Government started in Johannesburg. Reconnaissance by General French. 14.—Sir R. Buller and Staff left England. Lord Dundonald and Mounted Brigade crossed the Tugela at Potgieter’s Drift. Colonel Baden-Powell moved a large force outside Mafeking, and took up a strong defensive position. 6.—Sortie from Kimberley. 14.—Lord Roberts advanced to Dekiel’s Drift. Any burgher between the ages of 16 and 60 was liable to be called up to serve in a commando and each often brought their own rifles and horses. 11.—Commandant Lotter sentenced to death. Sir George White sent out from Ladysmith to Nicholson's Nek a Mountain Battery, with the Irish Fusiliers and the Gloucesters, to turn the enemy's right flank. Offer of Canadian Government to raise 600 more troops for service in South Africa accepted. Jameson had express instructions not to enter the Transvaal until an Uitlander uprising was underway. 1899.— Petition of Uitlanders to the Queen, May 24. 10.—Colonel Hannay’s force moved to Ramdam. Key Dates. 1877.—Annexation of Transvaal by Sir T. Shepstone, after the country had been reduced to a state of anarchy by misgovernment. 17.—Cronje’s force overtaken and surrounded at Paardeberg. The Highland Light Infantry were compelled to retire from a steep hill above the Nek. 20.—Delegates of late Governments arrived at Pretoria to arrange terms of surrender. The revelation of the camp system severely damaged the reputation of Britain’s government and furthered the cause for Boer nationalism abroad. 10.—De Wet, after many contests with the British forces in Orange River Colony, succeeded in crossing the river at Sand Drift. Winston Churchill arrived at Lourenço Marques after an adventurous journey. Britain officially abolished the practice in 1834 throughout their empire, which meant that the Cape’s Dutch settlers also had to relinquish their enslaved Black people. The two Boer republics were financially unstable and still relied heavily on British help. 7.—Attack on Piquetberg repulsed by garrison under Major Wilson and Town Guard. The Boer Wars was a series of battles between the South African Boers and the British Empire. Four officers wounded. (Gatacre’s Division.). Great Britain commenced to be at war with Transvaal and Orange Free State. The camps were widely criticized, especially in Europe where British methods in the war were already under heavy scrutiny. The Boers - South African 'Boer' War | NZHistory, New Zealand history online 13.—Lord Roberts issued a proclamation calling upon the Boers to surrender. The Boer War is a relatively wellknown title on what is a wellknown-of conflict. In 1871, the British moved to annex the diamond territory of the Griqua People, which had previously been incorporated by the Orange Free State. The British counter-attack, after massive reinforcements were sent to the region. General Gatacre advanced from Sterkstroom to Putters Kraal. 1.—General French continued to operate against Botha in the Eastern Transvaal. The last, and most destructive, phase of the war was about to begin. 1885.—Annexation of Bechuanaland to Cape Colony. It was fought over the vast diamond and gold discoveries of that region. 6.—General French, in his sweeping operations in the Eastern Transvaal, captured all the enemy’s guns in that district. Twelve officers and 120 police captured. 20.—Extinction of rebellion in Cape Colony. The main army, under Lord Roberts, pitched its tents at Honing Spruit, and General French crossed the Rhenoster to the north-west of the latter place. Lord Roberts defeated Boer reinforcements at Paardeberg. The Boer Republics declared war on 11th October 1899 and the conflict ended on 31st May 1902, a duration of 2 years and 8 months. Boers defeated with loss. Captain Elliot successfully engaged Boers in Griqualand. 25.—General Dartnell’s force surprised Boers near Bethlehem and took twelve prisoners. 24.—British Army entered the Transvaal, crossing the Vaal near Parys, unopposed. The 1886 gold rush not only transformed the poor, agrarian South African Republic into an economic powerhouse, it also caused a great deal of turmoil for the young republic. Lord Roberts’s further advance to the Vet River. The British replied that no such conditions could be met and by the evening of October 11, 1899, Boer forces began crossing over the borders into Cape Province and Natal. Both republics were annexed by the British Empire. After gold was discovered in the South African Republic in 1886, the British wanted the area under their control. British treacherously surrounded at Bronkhurst Spruit, December 20, when about 250 of 94th Regiment, after losing nearly all their men, surrendered. Firstly, Lord Horatio Herbert Kitchener, commander of the South African British forces, decided to set up barbed wire and blockhouses along the railway lines to keep the Boers at bay. 14.—Lieutenant-General Sir Charles Warren appointed to command the Fifth Division for service in South Africa. The crisis is known as the First Boer War. In 1899, the conflict between the British and the Boers burgeoned into a full-fledged war that was fought in three stages: a Boer offensive against British command posts and railway lines, a British counteroffensive that brought the two republics under British control, and a Boer guerrilla resistance movement that prompted a widespread scorched-earth campaign by the British and the internment … By 1852, a settlement was reached between the Boers and the British Empire granting sovereignty to those Boers who had settled beyond the Vaal River in the northeast. 1893.—Responsible government granted to Natal. 27.—Occupation of Middelburg by advance guard of Lord Roberts without opposition. At the time the British government wanted to expand the British Empire. 1869.—Discovery of diamonds near Lower Vaal River, where Kimberley now stands. 2.—Arrival of Lord Roberts at Osborne. Colley and Majuba Hill, Feb. 27; Colley killed with 3 officers and 82 men; 122 men taken prisoners. 18.—Capture of Judge Hugo in Cape Colony. Severe defeat of De Wet by General Plumer, who captured two guns, fifty prisoners, and all De Wet’s ammunition. The Boers were comprised of the combined forces of the South African Republic and the Republic of the Orange Free State. Gallant charge of Munster Fusiliers. Joubert wounded and captured. 30.—Surrender of Generals Prinsloo, A. J. Villiers, and Crowther, and 4000 Boers to General Hunter. Three officers wounded. General Gatacre repulsed Boer attack on position commanding Molteno. The Boers’ position at Grobler’s Kloof attacked. 9.—Conference between Transvaal and Orange Free State leaders at Klerksdorp in regard to negotiations for peace. The First Boer War (Afrikaans: Eerste Vryheidsoorlog, literally " First Freedom War "), 1880-1881, also known as the First Anglo-Boer War, the Transvaal War or the Transvaal Rebellion, was a war fought from 16 December 1880 until 23 March 1881 between the United Kingdom and Boers of the Transvaal (as the South African Republic was known while under British administration). 13.—Lord Roberts occupied Bloemfontein. 25.—Determined attack on Colonel von Donop’s convoy by Delarey and Kemp. 10.—General French drove the enemy from Vaal Kop. Two British officers captured through mistaking Boers for New Zealanders. (2020, August 27). General Ian Hamilton occupied Heidelburg. His papers captured. General Hamilton secured more prisoners. The Transvaal was then officially renamed the South African Republic. 13.—Little garrison of fifty men at Fort Edward surrounded by Beyers’ commando. Captured two Field-Cornets and twenty other Boers. British subjects exempted from military service by Transvaal Government, June 24. 4.—Surrender of Harrismith to General MacDonald. 22.—Seven hundred Cape raiders attacked columns of Colonels Wyndham and Crabbe. British Troops Defending a Train Derailed by the Boers, British Grenadier Guards - at the Battle of Riddulph's Berg, Boer War, GENERAL BULLER�S ADVANCE: PURSUING THE BOERS AFTER THE FIGHT ON HELPMAKAAR HEIGHTS, 1852.—Sand River Convention, granting independence to. Boers repulsed. Two guns captured. Boer Republics of Stellaland and Goshen set up in Bechuanaland. Sir Charles Warren and Staff arrived at the Cape. Fight at Vlakfontein, and surrender of Jameson, Jan. 2. 24.—Sir A. Milner arrived in London and had a peerage conferred upon him by the King. Thinking that this was a mere squabble that would soon be resolved, the British lacked reserves in ammunition and equipment; plus, they had no suitable military maps available for use either. British loss, 1 killed, 8 wounded. British Despatch to Transvaal, setting forth demands for immediate acceptance, Sept. 8. 13.—General French defeated 1800 Boers between Arundel and Naauwpoort. Events recorded include woundings, death, prisoners of war and being there. Colonel Mahon, at the head of the relief force, entered Mafeking. At the turn of the 18th century, the Cape had become home to settlers from Germany and France; however, it was the Dutch who made up the majority of the settler population. 25.—Lieutenant Hans Cordua shot in Pretoria for his participation in the plot against Lord Roberts. The concentration camps were severely mismanaged. In the process, the Boers greatly taxed their resources and their failure to push further into British-held territories allowed the British time to resupply their armies from the coast. 17.—Field-Marshal Lord Roberts, K.P., G.C.B., V.C., &c., appointed Commander-in-Chief in South Africa, with Lord Kitchener of Khartoum as his Chief of the Staff. Lord Roberts planning the advance on Pretoria © On 11 October 1899, the second Boer War broke out … British flag hoisted in Lucia Bay, Zululand (ceded to England in 1843, by Panda). 24.—General Buller left Cape Town for England. "The Boer War." Boers beaten off. Also, the fact that Britain’s Cape Colony had now slipped into the South African Republic’s economic shadow, made Great Britain even more determined to secure its African interests and to bring the Boers to heel. 30.—Sixth Division for South Africa notified. 26.—Finding the passage of the river near Colenso commanded by strong entrenchments, Sir Redvers Buller sent his guns and baggage back to the south side of the Tugela, and found a new crossing. Entire railway from Natal to Johannesburg in hands of the British. 18.—Sir A. Milner obtained leave of absence on account of the state of his health. 10.—Machadodorp attacked by night. 9.—Martial law extended to the whole of Cape Colony. 1881.—Transvaal rebellion. General French established his headquarters at Arundel. 12.—Boers driven eastward from Witwatersberg by General French. Colonel Pilcher, for “military reasons,” evacuated Douglas. 15.—Column left Pretoria to meet General Baden-Powell and repair telegraph between Pretoria and Rustenburg. December 29.—Captain Elliot treacherously murdered while fording the Vaal. Agreed to Nov. 8. ThoughtCo. 11.—Major Pack Beresford and detachment of South African Constabulary captured laager at Doornhoek. 1895.—Crown Colony of Bechuanaland annexed to Cape Colony. 1896.—Dr. Rosenberg, Tarkan, Contributing Writer. Armoured train captured by Boers near Mafeking. Colonel Kekewich captured a laager at Beestekraal. Mr. Winston Churchill and a number of Dublin Fusiliers and Volunteers captured. The Scottish Horse especially distinguished themselves and sustained severe loss. Our casualties also heavy. Boer position taken. 18.—Additional Battalions of Militia embodied. 5.—General Gatacre occupied Stormberg without opposition. Boer War, Breaker Morant. 21.—War Office arranged for reinforcements. Escort, which made gallant defence, overpowered. 27 (on anniversary of Majuba, 1881).—Cronje, with 44 commandants and other officers of all grades, and over 3500 men, surrendered unconditionally to Lord Roberts. As time passed, a number of Boers began migrating to the hinterlands where they believed they would have more autonomy to conduct their daily lives without the heavy regulations imposed on them by the Dutch East India Company. 19.—Important order issued from the War Office, announcing that the Government had decided to raise for service in South Africa a Mounted Infantry force, to be called “The Imperial Yeomanry.” The force to be recruited from the Yeomanry. Acceptance by Free State of £90,000 for Griqualand West. Commandant Celliers wounded. 28.—De Wet, frustrated in his attempt to break through to the south, withdrew to Senekal. 5.—Surprise and capture of Commandant S. Alberts’ laager by Scottish Horse under Major Leader. Colonel Bellairs besieged in Potchefstroom, but Boers retire when shelled. Between 1899 and 1902, the British Army fought a bitter colonial war against the Boers in South Africa.