Battlefields

The Anglo-Boer War (1899 - 1902):
Revisiting South African history

The bloodiest and most extensive military conflict in South Africa, the Anglo-Boer War was neither the last "gentleman's" war, nor a "white man's" war, but a devastating regional conflict with characteristics of a civil war, involving and affecting all inhabitants in some way or other.

The high-profile recognition given to the role of blacks, Indian-South Africans and people of mixed race in the saga, and the impact it had on their lives, will distinguish the coming celebrations of the Boer-War from those of the apartheid years.

Brandfort in the Free State had concentration camps for both blacks and whites, and has a cemetery where foreign soldiers who had died in the war were buried. (Among foreigners who fought with the Boers, or aided them in the theatre of war in some other way were Italians, Germans, Frenchmen, Dutchmen, Russians, Irishmen and Americans.)

With the growing fears of the outbreak of war, many black people, mainly mine workers, left the Witwatersrand in their tens of thousands to return home. Early in October 1899 the office of the Natal Native Agent in Johannesburg, J.S. Marwick, was surrounded by some 8 000 of Zulus who had been unable to get away.

The Transvaal Boer government, concerned about a potential threat posed to law and order by such a large body of men, gave the agent permission to evacuate them. As train services had been suspended, he was compelled to march them all the way to the British military camp at Dundee, from where they would be able to disperse.

At the frontier between the old Transvaal and Natal, 400 of the men were commandeered by General Jourbert to drag a cannon to the top of Majuba Hill. On 15 October the first of the marchers arrived at General Penn-Symons' camp below Talana Hill, having marched 385 km in seven days to safety. Several of the marchers had died of hunger and exhaustion on the way... Blacks, Indian-South Africans and people of mixed race participated on both sides.

In the first year of the war, Lord Roberts issued a proclamation that that "non-whites" were not to be issued with arms, and they were employed as non-combatants -- as herdsmen, drivers, construction labourers and camp staff. Many Indian-South Africans, including Mohandas Gandhi, who would later achieve renown, served in the Natal and Indian Ambulance Corps. At the end of 1900 Lord Roberts' successor, Lord Kitchener, ruled that Blacks who were in the service of the British Army had to be armed for the purpose of self-defense.

Later black South Africans were used, with good results, as scouts, especially during the guerilla phase. Black scouts were armed, as were blacks who manned blockhouses erected to impede the movement of Boer guerillas. At the armistice, there were 50% more Blacks on the British side than bittereinders (bitter-enders) on the Boer side.

The Boers also employed blacks, as agterryers (rear drivers) who looked after extra horses and did the cooking, and as scouts. But Boer scouts were not armed. As the war progressed, blacks on the Boer side endured the same hardships as the whites.

With the implementation by the British of a scorched-earth policy, many black families also became destitute. Some black farm labourers accompanied their employers to white concentration camps.

During the first half of 1901, separate concentration camps were set up for blacks, mainly to serve as labour depots for the British Army.

Eventually there were 24 of these camps in the Free State alone. By May 1902, 119,700 black people lived in concentration camps, commonly in conditions of squalor, hunger and disease. At least 14 000 black people, 81% of whom were children, died in these camps.

In 1903, the Cape African Native Congress remarked that, "the neglect of the black refugee problem during the war and in its aftermath concealed a story of profound misery and inhumanity."

South Africa's battle field sites (including the Anglo-Boer War)

Mpumalanga

Berg-en-Dal

Free State

The Women's Monument in Bloemfontein: erected in memory of all the women and children who died in British concentration camps during the Anglo-Boer War.
Sannaspos near Bloemfontein

Northern Cape

Magersfontein near Kimberley
Paardeberg between Kimberley and Bloemfontein

KwaZulu-Natal

This province has the highest concentration of battlefields in South Africa, and the Battlefields Route draws tourists from all over the world. Remember to plan your trip to coincide with annual events such as battle re-enactments. The small towns along the route offer a wide variety of accommodation.

Sites worth visiting:

Talana Museum and battlefield: This is one of the country's most impressive museums. It is situated on teh site of the Battle of Talana, which was the first battle of the Anglo-Boer War in which the British troops donned khaki uniforms.
The battlefields of Colenso and Tugela Heights: These are two of South Africa's most important historical battle sites. There are many memorials in the area, which were erected by regiments fighting there. Many soldiers from the Battle of Colenso were buried in the Ableside Military Cemetery in Babanango.
Blood River battlefield (near the town of Utrecht): In a fierce battle, the Voortrekkers defeated the Zulus here on 16 December 1838.
Isandhlwana battlefield (near the town of Babanango): The British were defeated by the Zulus.
Rorke's Drift battlefield (near the town of Babanango): Here 100 British men fought for 12 gruelling hours and defeated an overwhelming force of Zulus.
Bloukrans (near the town of Estcourt): After the Zulus murdered the Voortrekker leader Pieter Retief, many white families were killed here in February 1838. A special memorial was erected here.
Hlobane battlefield (near the town of Vryheid): The Zulus defeated the British here in March 1879.

Useful links: