Battle of Groenkop

Coordinates: 28°14′11″S 28°39′28″E / 28.23639°S 28.65778°E / -28.23639; 28.65778 (Battle of Groenkop)
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Battle of Groenkop
Part of the Second Boer War
Date25 December 1901
Location
Groenkop, Orange Free State
28°14′11″S 28°39′28″E / 28.23639°S 28.65778°E / -28.23639; 28.65778 (Battle of Groenkop)
Result Boer victory
Belligerents
United Kingdom United Kingdom  Orange Free State
Commanders and leaders
Major Williams Christiaan de Wet
Strength
550 (mostly 11th Battalion Imperial Yeomanry) 600
Casualties and losses
68 killed
77 wounded
206 captured		 11 killed
30 wounded

In the Battle of Groenkop (Battle of Tweefontein) on 25 December 1901, Head Commandant Christiaan de Wet's Boer commando surprised and defeated a force of Imperial Yeomanry under the command of Major Williams.

Background

By late 1901, de Wet's guerilla force based itself near the settlements of Lindley,

Reitz in the northeast part of the Orange Free State
. On 28 November, de Wet called a krijgsraad (war council) of the still-active Boer leaders near Reitz. They determined to strike back at their British tormentors, who numbered 20,000 men.

As part of

15-pounder gun and a pom-pom held the 200-foot (61 m) high Groenkop.[1]

Battle

De Wet carefully scouted the Groenkop position for three days. He noted that the British posted their sentries atop the sheer west side of the kop, instead of at the bottom where they could give timely warning of an attack. The Boer leader determined to scale the west side using the trace of a gully.[citation needed]

At 2:00 am on Christmas morning, de Wet's commando clambered up the steep slope in single file with their boots removed so as to minimise any noise. The surprise was nearly total. Challenged by a single sentry when they were over halfway to the top with a few scattered shots, the Boers, who were ordered into battle by de Wet shouting "Stormt Burgers" swarmed up and over the crest. They began firing downhill into the British tents, inflicting a "massacre."[2] Savage fighting lasted about 40 minutes before the British gave up.[3]

Aftermath

The next morning, one of the 206 British prisoners of the Boers noted that his foes were so short of clothing that some wore women's attire. The 250 unwounded British prisoners of war were stripped literally naked before they were turned loose the next day.[3] Kitchener wrote, "It is very sad and depressing that the boers are able to strike such blows, but I fear ... we shall always be liable to something of the sort from the unchecked rush of desperate men at night."[4]

By 5 February 1902, Kitchener's blockhouse lines were completed and he sent 9,000 men on a massive sweep through the countryside. In this first operation, 285 Boers were captured but de Wet and President

Marthinus Steyn and their men escaped the trap. The second drive lasted from 16 February to 28. Again, de Wet got away, but this time he had to abandon most of his cattle. On 27 February, Colonel Henry Rawlinson's column encircled and captured a 650-man Boer commando at Lang Reit, a few miles from Tweefontein. This brought the British "bag" in the successful sweep to 778 surrendered Boers. The third drive by Major Elliott's division, from 4 March to 11 March, was a failure, with only about 100 Boers captured. Worse, de Wet escaped to join Fighting General Koos de la Rey in the Western Transvaal.[5]

References

  1. ^ Pakenham, p 575
  2. ^ Pakenham, p 576
  3. ^ a b Evans, p 154
  4. ^ Pakenham, p 577
  5. ^ Pakenham, p 579-582

Bibliography

  • Evans, Martin Marix. The Boer War: South Africa 1899-1902. Oxford: Osprey, 1999.
    ISBN 1-85532-851-8
  • Pakenham, Thomas. The Boer War. New York: Avon Books, 1979.
    ISBN 0-380-72001-9
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