Boer War Statistics Flashcards
The Siege of Mafiking Statistics?
13th October 1899- 17th May 1900.
British Commander - Baden-Powell.
British Strength - 1’500 soldiers, one old naval gun.
British Losses - 810 casualties.
Boer Commander - Piet Cronje.
Boer Strength - 8’000 soldiers.
Boer Losses - 2’000 in the relieving effort.
Siege of Mafeking - Depth?
- The Siege lasted 217 days making it the longest siege of the war, this is in part due to the fact that the British media presented the idea that the town was well defended and therefore, it was not prioritised.
- Lady Sarah Wilson was there and wrote extensively about the British Commander Colonel Baden-Powell who had prepared the defences of the town including an old naval gun and a number of shelters, Powell was subsequently made into a National hero. He had also brought 2’000 soldiers from Basutoland who had been serving under him.
- Once the town was relieved the British public engaged in what was known as Mafekining and was a huge celebration and served as an effective way of raising the morale of the public.
Siege of Kimberley Statistics?
14th October 1899 - 15th February 1900.
British Commander -Robert Kekewich and Cecil Rhodes.
British Strength - 1’600 soldiers.
British Casualties - 40 killed and 135 wounded.
Boer Commander - Piet Cronje.
Boer Strength - 5’000 soldiers and several guns.
Boer Losses - Heavy losses in the relieving efforts.
Siege of Kimberly - Depth?
- Cesil Rhodes who had been carrying out mining operations in the area was present in the town as the Boers occupied the surrounding region.
- Rhodes built a Large gun in his factory which was used to shell boer positions however, it’s impact was limited.
- The Boers used a Long Tom however, it did not use smokeless powder so the townspeople had 17 seconds to find shelter before the shell hit.
- The town was under siege for 124 days.
Siege of Ladysmith Statistics?
2nd November 1899 - 28th February 1900.
British Commander - George Stuart White.
British Strength - 12’500 soldiers.
British Losses - 850 Killed or wounded and 800 captured.
Boer Commander - Piet Cronje.
Boer Strength - 21’000 soldiers.
Boer Losses - At least 52 Boer soldiers killed with more wounded.
Siege of Ladysmith - Depth?
- The siege lasted from 118 days, the only rail link to Durban was cut off.
- After Buller failed to relieve the siege due to his failings at Colenso he suggested that White either try to break out from the city or destroy all ammunition and surrender to the Boers. White could not surrender as his horses were sick and he refused to surrender.
- On Christmas day Boer forces fired a shell with a Christmas pudding and a festive message inside of it.
- Boer forces attempted an attack at Wagon Hill in January and despite initial success withdrew due to rain.
- The town began to run out of food and water as the Boers captured the only water supply leading to the spread of disease.
Battle of Stormberg Statistics?
10th December 1899.
British Commander - William Gatacre.
British Strength - 1’800 infantry, 250 mounted troops, 12 guns.
British Losses - 25 killed, 70 wounded, 700 captured.
Boer Commander - Jan Olivier.
Boer Strength - 2’300 soldiers, 3 guns.
Boer Losses - 8 killed, 26 wounded.
Battle of Stormberg - Depth?
- The British forces had spent the day before sitting in train carts whilst locomotives were searched for.
- The British forces had lost their local guides and in turn spent all night marching round the Velt.
- The Boer forces were based on Kissieberg hill and had one heavy gun which they opened fire with.
- Around half of the British forces against orders charged directly at the hill, there was a sharp climb and only a few soldiers made it to the top most of whom were then hit by their own artillery.
- Gatacres forces begin to fall back in a disorderly fashion to Molteno but were attacked by mounted Boer soldiers.
- Only once their forces reached Molteno did Gatacre realise that 600 soldiers had been left on the hill, they were surrounded and subsequently surrendered.
Battle of Magersfontein Statistics?
11th December 1899.
British Commander - Lord Methuen.
British Strength - 15’000 soldiers, 27 guns.
British Losses - 950 casualties.
Boer Commander - Piet Cronje.
Boer Strength - 8’500 soldiers, 5 guns, 3 machine guns.
Boer Losses - 240 casualties.
Battle of Magersfontein - Depth?
- The British forces under Methuen were attempting to relieve the siege at Kimberly.
- Methuen didn’t carry out proper reconnaissance and didn’t realise that the Boers were at the foot of the hills not the slopes.
- The British artillery subsequently missed which led to few Boer casualties.
- The British advance was highly disorganised and the Highland Brigade especially suffered heavy casualties.
- The British advance towards Kimberly was halted and they withdrew.
Battle of Colenso Statistics?
15th December 1899.
British Commander - Buller.
British Strength - 14’000 infantry, 2’700 mounted troops, 44 guns.
British Losses - 150 killed, 755 wounded, 240 missing, 10 guns captured.
Boer Commander - Louis Botha.
Boer Strength - 4’500 soldiers.
Boer Losses - 8 Killed, 30 Wounded.
Battle of Colenso - Depth?
- The Boer forces retreated to the bank of the Tugala river and dug in, initially Buller wanted to try and outflank the Boers further down the river but after hearing about the two other defeats he opted for a frontal assault.
- The Local guide led some of the soldiers to the wrong ford leading them penned into a small area, the Doornkop. Botha had initially ordered his men to not open fire until they had crossed but they were deemed too easy of a target. British artillery subsequently miss-fired and hit the British soldiers.
- Buller’s artillery subsequently deployed too close to the Boer line and the gunners were forced back.
- Buller took overall command and decided to start a withdrawal despite the fact that some soldiers had reached Colenso.
- Buller sent volunteers to get the guns but they were shot down including the son of Lord Roberts.
Battle of Spion Kop statistics?
23-24th January 1900.
British Commander - Redvers Buller.
British Strength - 20’000 soldiers and 36 field guns.
British Losses - 240 killed and 1’250 wounded.
Boer Commander - Louis Botha.
Boer Strength - 8’000 soldiers, 4 field guns, 2 machine guns.
Boer Losses - 68 killed and 270 wounded.
Battle of Spion Kop - Depth?
- The British had successfully crossed the Tugala river and were now preparing to attack Boer forces on Spion Kop.
- The British forces advanced through mist at night up the slope of the Kop and surprised a small Boer picket, they were subsequently able to force them back.
- The top of the hill was then successfully captured and the 20 sappers begin to build defences.
- When dawn broke they realised they had only taken the smaller part of the hill, Boer forces were able to rain down fire as the defences were not adequate.
- Boer commandos attempted to dislodge the British and were able to push them back slightly after fierce close quarters combat.
- Morale was poor on both sides and some Boers begin to withdraw from their positions.
- After a stalemate British forces began to make some gains as Boers withdrew, Buller then ordered a withdrawal much to the confusion of everyone.
Battle of Paardeburg statistics?
18th - 27th of February 1900.
British Commander - Lord Roberts ill, Kitchener.
British Strength - 15’000 soldiers.
British Losses - 350 killed, 940 wounded.
Boer Commander - Piet Cronje and Christiaan De Wet.
Boer Strength - 7’000 soldiers.
Boer Losses - 350 killed and wounded, 4’000 captured.
