Foro Militar General

De Güiner escribió:Frate, a tí sí te pongo un bóer

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Michael Roffe

A Don Luis ni agua.

De Güiner escribió:Frate, a tí sí te pongo un bóer

himaje

A Don Luis ni agua.

The Siege of Kimberley took place during the Second Boer War at Kimberley, Cape Colony (present-day South Africa), when Boer forces from the Orange Free State and the Transvaal besieged the diamond mining town. The Boers moved quickly to try to capture the British enclave when war broke out between the British and the two Boer republics in October 1899. The town was ill-prepared, but the defenders organised an energetic and effective improvised defence that was able to prevent it from being taken.

Cecil Rhodes, who had made his fortune in the town, and who controlled all the mining activities, moved into the town at the onset of the siege. His presence was controversial, as his involvement in the Jameson Raid made him one of the primary protagonists behind war breaking out. Rhodes was constantly at loggerheads with the military, but he was nonetheless instrumental in organising the defence of the town. The Boers shelled the town with their superior artillery in an attempt to force the garrison to capitulate. Engineers of the De Beers company manufactured a one-off gun named Long Cecil, however the Boers soon countered with a much larger siege gun that terrified the residents, forcing many to take shelter in the Kimberley Mine.

The British military had to change its strategy for the war as public opinion demanded that the sieges of Kimberley, Ladysmith and Mafeking be relieved before the Boer capitals were assaulted. The first attempt at relief of Kimberley under Lord Methuen was stopped at the battles of Modder River and Magersfontein. The 124-day siege was finally relieved on 15 February 1900 by a cavalry division under Lieutenant-General John French, part of a larger force under Lord Roberts. The battle against the Boer general Piet Cronjé continued at Paardeberg immediately after the town itself was relieved.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Siege_of_Kimberley

The Battle of Majuba Hill (near Volksrust, South Africa) on 27 February 1881 was the final and decisive battle of the First Boer War. It was a resounding victory for the Boers and the battle is considered to have been one of the most humiliating defeats of British arms in history. Major-General Sir George Pomeroy Colley occupied the summit of the hill on the night of 26–27 February 1881. His motive for occupying the hill remains unclear. The Boers believed that he may have been attempting to outflank their positions at Laing's Nek. The hill was not considered scale-able by the Boers for military purposes and thus it may have been Colley's attempt to emphasize British power and strike fear into the Boer camp.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Majuba_Hill

Mrs. Davies, a British settler, firing on Boer positions during the siege of Mafeking, South Africa, May 1900.

On 6 January 1900 the Boers launched a determined attack on Ladysmith, capturing for a time two of its outlying southern defences, Wagon Hill and Caesar’s Camp. At Caesar’s Camp, their advance party almost succeeded in forcing the whole position along the hill-top, but were held in check by the Border Mounted Rifles. As the morning wore on, the Boers were subjected to heavy bombardment by 53rd Battery, Royal Field Artillery, but it was forced to cease firing when a storm of hail and rain blotted out its target.

Boer reinforcements advanced under cover of the storm, and a renewed attempt was made to carry the British position, but once again the Border Mounted Rifles, now reinforced with some regular troops, stood firm. As darkness fell the Boers conceded that their attempt had failed and, to avoid being cut off by flash floods caused by the storm, they withdrew, though many were shot or drowned in doing so.

the battle is considered to have been one of the most humiliating defeats of British arms in history.

This canvas depicts a burgher being shot by two British infantrymen concealed behind rocks - an example of Boer tactics being used against them.

The Boers preferred ambush to other methods of combat as it minimised casualties. They disliked hand-to-hand fighting, and their traditional method of attack was to lie in wait among the rocks on a kopje (hill), behind which their horses would be held ready. Noted marksmen, they also liked to fight on ground which had previously been studied and marked out for distance.