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The British Advance and Boer Retreat Through Northern Natal, May - June 1900 by Gilbert Peter Torlage

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The British Advance and Boer Retreat Through Northern Natal, May - June 1900 by Gilbert Peter Torlage The British Advance and Boer Retreat Through Northern Natal, May - June 1900 by Gilbert Peter Torlage submitted in fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of MASTER OF ARTS in the subject HISTORY at the UNIVERSITY OF SOUTH AFRICA Supervisor : Professor S.B. Spies Joint Supervisor: Mr N.D. Southey November 1992 l\llillllilll 01488559 SUMMARY This dissertation deals with the efforts of the British forces to regain control of northern Natal from the Boers, during the second quarter of 1900. In March Boer forces had dug themselves in along the Biggarsberg. In early May a British force advanced on the Biggarsberg. Exploiting their numerical superiority and with a turning movement to their right, the British army forced the Boers to retire to the Drakensberg in the Majuba area. There followed a period of re-organisation and preparation during which General Buller attempted to persuade the Boers to lay down their arms. When this failed he launched another attack on the Boer defence line. In quick succession the British force gained success at Botha's Pass (8 June) and at Alleman's Nek (11 June). These reverses forced the Boers to retire from their Drakensberg positions and they thereby relinquished all control of Natal to the British forces. 1111111111111111111111111111111111111111 01488559 CONTENTS Pref ace i Abbreviations ii 1 . Introduction 1 2. Rest and Re-Organisation 1 0 3 . Helprnekaar 55 4. "Just Sparring" 85 5 . "Lull Before the Storm" 108 6. Botha's Pass 130 7 . Allernan's Nek 159 8. Conclusions 187 Sources 197 PREFACE It would be remiss of me not to acknowledge a debt of gratitude firstly to Professor C.J. Barnard who drew my attention to the fact that no serious overall study had been undertaken of the period under review. Furthermore, my thanks go to my supervisors Professor S.B. Spies and Mr N.D. Southey who encouraged me and provided invaluable comments, to the Transvaal Archives staff, the Talana Museum staff, Mrs Sheila Henderson who shared with me her detailed knowledge of northern Natal, Mr. Ray Steele who took me over the Botha' s Pass and Alleman' s Nek battlefields, my father-in-law Mr R.H. Bizley who helped proof read the manuscript and commented on aspects of my style, my wife Jenny who encouraged and accompanied me to some of the remote corners of Natal, and my sons James and Andrew for their patience. i ABBREVIATIONS Act - Acting Asst - Assistant Bde - Brigade Cav - Cavalry C.H.K. - Carolina Historiese Komitee Cmdt - Commandant Gen - General G.O.C. - General Officer Commanding H.C.C. - Hoofkomitee van die Kommissariaat H.T.D.­ - Hoof Telegraaf Diens JHB - Johannesburg K.G. - Kommandant-Generaal K.R.R. - King's Royal Rifles No. - Number R.H.A. - Royal Horse Artillery R.F.A. - Royal Field Artillery R.V.R. - Resident-vrederegter S.A.L.H. - South African Light Horse S.D. - Staff Diary Sec - Secretary S.R.O. - Scottish Record Office Sts Seers - Staatssekretaris T.A. - Transvaal Archives T.M. - Talana Museum Tel - Telegram V.C.R. - Volunteer Composite Regiment w.o. - War Off ice Wd - Waarnemende ii Chapter 1. INTRODUCTION Since the end of the Second Anglo-Boer War in 1902 a great many publications and academic studies have been published on that subject. Certain themes, personalities and periods of the war have been analysed in detail. Yet, some remain obscured and even in recent publications tend to be glossed over. One such aspect concerns the period after the relief of Ladysmith, when the Boers in Natal retired to the Drakensberg and Biggarsberg and the British force initially remained in and around Ladysmith. Subsequently, when the British force was ready, it moved northwards and forced the Boers to vacate the Biggarsberg and eventually also the Drakensberg. This campaign lasted from the beginning of March 1900 to approximately 12 June 1900. It is this campaign and the significant implications for both parties, regarding the conduct of the war, that forms the core of this dissertation. Despite the significant implications this campaign had, and the tens of thousands of men involved, even a recent publication such as Thomas Pakenham' s The Boer War ( 1979), devotes only three quarters of a page to it. I hope to achieve more in this dissertation than merely filling a gap in the literature on the war. It is my intention to illustrate that General Sir Redvers Buller adapted his tactics by this stage of the war and attempt to understand why he became more adventurous as opposed to much of his earlier campaign in the war fought in the Thukela valley. This aspect of the dissertation will, however, not be a detailed comparative study, although in terms of future research, there is scope for such a 1 project in order to understand Buller more fully in the wider context of the Second Anglo-Boer War. As regards the Boers, their dramatic decline in morale and discipline will be focused on, the implications this held at a variety of levels discussed, and an attempt will be made to understand why there was this change compared to their earlier campaign fought in the Thukela River valley. Again it will not be a detailed comparative study. Although this period has not been closely analysed in any one study, significant and varied sources do exist on it. The most detailed descriptions on this period appear in F.M. Maurice and M.H. Grant, History of the War in South Africa 1899-1902 and L.S. Amery, The Times History of the War in South Africa 1899-1902. Both publications have their strengths and weaknesses. As they were written soon after the events, the authors had access to eyewitnesses. However, these individuals are seldom identified. Maurice and Grant's so called Official History was written by fellow officers and this inhibited a thorough criticism of their colleagues' strategic and tactical errors. This is a major weakness of the publication. The maps that accompany the text are generally, as regards topographical features and positions of the British forces, very accurate. The positions of Boer forces shown, need to be treated with caution though, as detailed documentary research and fieldwork have on occasion revealed these to be less reliable. It is probable that Leo Amery, a reporter for The Times, felt himself less constrained than Maurice, a senior officer in the 2 military establishment, and his work is indeed more critical of British strategy and tactics. He was none the less writing from a particular standpoint, and states in his preface to volume two of his work that he wished to reveal the underlying story . the real and deeper causes of success or failure, to trace the influence of national characteristics and national organisation for war in the seemingly fortuitous sequence of events, and in the almost incomprehensible actions of generals and politicians. It is in realisation of those more deeply rooted causes of our past failures, quite as much as the indiscriminate adoption of methods found useful on the South African veld, that the best hopes of the reforms required to insure the safety and the full development of that which is already in part a great living reality{ but in part remains a precious ideal - the British Empire. In the sixth volume Amery asserts that the war was a test of Imperial unity. 2 Imperial idealism, coupled to military reform to ensure the survival of the Empire, are thus of crucial importance to Amery. The greatest weakness of both Maurice and Grant's and Amery's publications, are that they had few Boer sources, official or private, available to them. Other valuable British sources are the reports and telegrams contained in the Lord Roberts Papers and the Staff Diaries. Regrettably the latter only covered the month of May 1900; the June ones appear to have been destroyed - probably during World War II. The Lord Roberts Papers are useful regarding overall strategy and tactics. They also provide a detailed insight into 1 L.S. Amery, ed., The Times History of the War in South Africa, II, pp. v-vi. 2 Amery, VI, p.vi. 3 General Sir Redvers Buller's vacillations, concerning plans of future action. They do also provide some useful details of day to day activities, but are not helpful in terms of understanding the lower ranks' hardships and toiling. The Staff Diaries provide a more detailed record of individual units. Some diarists are much more detailed than others. These Diaries were of particular value in reconstructing the battle of Helpmekaar. Some of them also provide a relatively comprehensive insight into the demands made of the lower ranks. Further significant official sources are to be found in the British Parliamentary Papers (Blue Books). The reports provide a useful overview of events, they do highlight the successes of the British forces and particular individuals, such as Lieutenant-General H.J.T. Hildyard. Despite being written a few days after the events have occurred, they hardly reflect any self-criticism. There are several other publications and documents which were of significant use in trying to piece together and flesh out specific events or the roles of certain elements or individuals in the army. C.R.N. Burne, With the Naval Brigade in Natal and T.T. Jeans, ed., Naval Brigades in the South African War 1899- 1902 are most useful in piecing together the role of the naval guns. They are most detailed in places, allowing one to gain a good insight into the hardships they had to overcome in order to perform their duty. Valuable regimental histories of key units at Botha's Pass and Alleman's Nek are C.T.
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