Episode 94 - The British break a Boer code and President Steyn is forced to flee wearing a nightcap

The last six weeks have been a short sharp shock for our British friends who’ve visited the veld and the semi-desert in the Northern Cape and the green hills of Natal. Things have moved apace since war was declared on October 10th. It’s Christmas 1899 and across South Africa, few people are feeling festive. In the South West, Methuen has been held up as he tried to race to Kimberley to relieve the siege and where the arch imperialist Cecil John Rhodes is residing, demanding a saviour rescue him. In Natal, a disaster befell the British at Colenso with over 1 thousand 130 casualties as Sir Redvers Buller tried to reach Ladysmith where 13 000 British soldiers were holed up - besieged. That led to Buller being fired as the commander in chief of forces in South Africa. Lord Roberts who was in Ireland was assigned the job of leading the Army Corps after Buller’s shambolic record and strategic blunders. Roberts, however, is still preparing to depart for Cape Town and there’s still time for Buller to create mischief and so he does as we’ll see next week with the terrible battle of Spion kop. If ever the word “carnage” summed up a singular event, its Spion Kop. But before we hear about Spion Kop our focus must shift this week into Ladysmith itself, where the small town on a railway line between the port of Durban and Johannesburg has become a strategic imperative. General Piet Joubert the Boer commander had surrounded the town and then betted on General White eventually surrendering without too deadly a clash. He was wrong. The British were not going to make the same mistake they made in 1881 after they were defeated at Majuba. This time they wanted the Boers to surrender in utter defeat whatever the human cost to both sides.

31 Dec 201724min

It’s December 1899 and the British have already registered 3 000 casualties in various battles across South Africa. The latest we heard about was the Battle of Colenso on 15th December in Natal where the British casualty rate topped 1 130 with over 700 wounded and the result cost Commander in Chief General Buller his job . These are numbers that alarmed the public and the government back in London. The Boers had been perceived as a shambolic rabble ripe for the plucking, the gold bugs who owned the mines and financed the gold diggings back in Johannesburg had propagated and pushed for a war, now their brethren were paying the price in blood for their greed and their Imperialist aims. The Boers were no pushovers. In fact, in all major battles between October and December, they had consistently outfought and outthought the British across the country in different environments.

24 Dec 201717min

So here we are, the battle of Colenso, December 15th 1899. Four Victoria Crosses were awarded in this clash but it also led to defeat for the British who stumbled repeatedly under the command of their beloved yet faulty Sir Redvers Buller. The Boers, although victorious, began to appreciate the true fire power their opponents possessed. It’s also a battle that led to the death of a Field Marshall’s son Freddie Roberts. The end of the battle saw the stretcher bearers called "bodysnatchers" which included Mahatma Gandhi. Queen Victoria's beloved grandson was wounded in this battle which was incredibly one-sided where the British lost over 1137 casualties, the Boers, around 38.

17 Dec 201728min

We heard last week how General Methuen had been roundly defeated at the battle of Magersfontein in the Northern Cape and had withdrawn his force back to the Modder River. North east across South Africa and in the province of Natal, the commander of the British troops Sir Redvers Buller was preparing to face his own sword of damocles. The second terrible battle of black week was about to break upon the shores of the British Empire Colenso. And Mahatma Gandhi makes an appearance.

10 Dec 201720min

The Battle of Magersfontein destroyed a Highland Brigade and taught the English a lesson they'd forget almost immediately. Do not launch a frontal attack on a hidden enemy unless you do proper reconnaissance. Magersfontein would also lead directly to General Methuen losing his command as the commander of British Forces in the West of South Africa.

3 Dec 201724min

The Battle of Modder River took place after two other skirmishes which are called soldiers’ battles. These are bloody affairs where men die in droves, The battles of Belmont and Graspan then elicited a strategic master stroke by the Boers where they figured out how to exact high casualties by placing trenches at the base of hills and using their high powered Mauser bolt-action rifles to sow mayhem amongst the attacking British force.

28 Nov 201719min

Our view shifts to the Western reaches of South Africa - the south western to be specific. Last week we watched how Winston Churchill as captured at Chieverly south of Colenso on the main line to Ladysmith where the wretched 13 000 British troops were surrounded by Boers. That was near the mighty Tugela River. Now we’re near the Orange River, the longest in South Africa. It lies North of Cape Town between the port and Kimberley. The decision had been taken for the British Army Corp central group to push on over the river and towards Kimberley where Cecil John Rhodes had been telegraphing almost daily that the city was soon to be overrun by Boers.

19 Nov 201721min

It’s just over a month since hostilities were declared formally on 10th October 1899, a number of battles have been fought that dispelled British notions of a quick and easy war. Thousands of casualties have been reported and there’s some consternation in London. By this time, about a third of the 47 000 strong Army Corps which British Commander General Redvers Buller would lead had arrived in Cape Town and some had been sent on to Durban to prepare to march to relieve Ladysmith. And in the midst of all this, Winston Churchill is taken prisoner.

12 Nov 201723min