Battle of Majuba Hill
Encyclopedia
The Battle of Majuba Hill (near Volksrust
Volksrust
Volksrust is a town in the Mpumalanga province of South Africa on the KwaZulu-Natal provincial border. The town has important beef, dairy, maize, sorghum, wool and sunflower seed industries. It was established near to where the Battle of Majuba, wherein the Transvaal won its independence back...

, South Africa
South Africa
The Republic of South Africa is a country in southern Africa. Located at the southern tip of Africa, it is divided into nine provinces, with of coastline on the Atlantic and Indian oceans...

) on 27 February 1881 was the main battle of the First Boer War
First Boer War
The First Boer War also known as the First Anglo-Boer War or the Transvaal War, was fought from 16 December 1880 until 23 March 1881-1877 annexation:...

. It was a resounding victory for the Boers. Major-General Sir George Pomeroy Colley
George Pomeroy Colley
Major-General Sir George Pomeroy Colley KCSI CB CMG was a British Army officer who became Governor and Commander-in-Chief of Natal and High Commissionerfor South Eastern Africa....

 occupied the summit of the hill on the night of February 26–27, 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 bulk of the 405 British soldiers occupying the hill were 171 men of the 58th Regiment
Northamptonshire Regiment
The Northamptonshire Regiment was an infantry regiment of the British Army from 1881 to 1960. Its lineage is now continued by The Royal Anglian Regiment.-Formation:The regiment was formed as part of the reorganisation of the infantry by the Childers reforms...

 with 141 men of the 92nd (Gordon) Highlanders
92nd (Gordon Highlanders) Regiment of Foot
The 92nd Regiment of Foot was a British Army infantry regiment. It was granted Royal Warrant on 10 February 1794, and first paraded on 24 June 1794, originally being numbered the 100th Regiment of Foot...

, and a small naval brigade
Naval Brigade
A Naval Brigade is a body of sailors serving in a ground combat role to augment land forces.-Royal Navy:Within the Royal Navy, a Naval Brigade is a large temporary detachment of Royal Marines and of seamen from the Royal Navy formed to undertake operations on shore, particularly during the mid- to...

 from HMS Dido
HMS Dido (1869)
HMS Dido was an Eclipse-class wooden screw sloop built for the Royal Navy in 1869. She was the fourth ship of the Royal Navy to bear the name. She was reclassified in 1876 as a corvette, and in 1906 renamed Actaeon II...

. General Colley had brought no artillery up to the summit, nor did he order his men to dig in, expecting that the Boers would retreat when they saw their position on the Nek was untenable. However, the Boers quickly formed a group of storming parties, led by Nicolas Smit
Nicolas Smit
Nicolas Smit was a Boer general in the First Boer War.He won the Battle of Majuba Hill, the most important battle of this war....

, from an assortment of volunteers from various commandos, totaling at least 450 men, maybe more, to attack the hill.

By daybreak at 4:30, the 92nd Highlanders covered a wide perimeter of the summit, while a handful occupied Gordon's Knoll on the right side of the summit. Oblivious to the presence of the British troops until the 92nd (Gordon) Highlanders began to yell and shake their fists, the Boers began to panic fearing an artillery attack. Three Boer storming groups of 100-200 men each began a slow advance up the hill. The groups were led by Field Cornet Stephanus Roos, Commandant D.J.K. Malan and Commandant Joachim Ferreira. The Boers, being the better marksmen, kept their enemy on the slopes at bay while groups crossed the open ground to attack Gordon's Knoll, where at 12:45 Ferreira's men opened up a tremendous fire on the exposed knoll and captured it.

Over the next hour, the Boers poured over the top of the British line and engaged the enemy at long range, refusing hand-to-hand combat action and picking off the British one by one. The Boers were able to take advantage of the scrub and long grass which covered the hill, something that the British were not trained to do. It was at this stage that British discipline began to wane and panicky troops began to desert their posts, unable to see their opponents and being given very little in the way of direction from officers. When more Boers were seen encircling the mountain, the British line collapsed and many fled pell-mell from the hill. The Boers were able to launch an attack which shattered the already crumbling British line.

Amidst great confusion and with casualties amongst his men rising, Colley attempted to order a fighting retreat, but was shot by Boer marksmen. The rest of the British force fled down the rear slopes of Majuba, where more were hit by the Boer marksmen, who had lined the summit in order to shoot at the retreating foe. An abortive rearguard action was staged by the 15th The King's Hussars
15th The King's Hussars
The 15th The King's Hussars was a cavalry regiment in the British Army. First raised in 1759, it saw service over two centuries, before being amalgamated into the 15th/19th Hussars in 1922.-Formation:...

 and 60th rifles
King's Royal Rifle Corps
The King's Royal Rifle Corps was a British Army infantry regiment, originally raised in colonial North America as the Royal Americans, and recruited from American colonists. Later ranked as the 60th Regiment of Foot, the regiment served for more than 200 years throughout the British Empire...

, who had marched from mount prospect, although this made little impact on the Boer forces. Two hundred and eighty Britons were killed, captured or wounded.

Although small in scope, the battle is historically significant for three reasons:
  • It led to the signing of a peace treaty and later the Pretoria Convention
    Pretoria Convention
    The Pretoria Convention was the peace treaty that ended the First Boer War between the Transvaal Boers and the United Kingdom. The treaty was signed in Pretoria on 3 August, 1881, but was subject to ratification by the Volksraad within 3 months from the date of signature...

    , between the British and the newly created South African Republic
    South African Republic
    The South African Republic , often informally known as the Transvaal Republic, was an independent Boer-ruled country in Southern Africa during the second half of the 19th century. Not to be confused with the present-day Republic of South Africa, it occupied the area later known as the South African...

    , ending the First Boer War
    First Boer War
    The First Boer War also known as the First Anglo-Boer War or the Transvaal War, was fought from 16 December 1880 until 23 March 1881-1877 annexation:...

    .
  • The fire and movement
    Fire and Movement
    Fire and movement or fire and manoeuvre is a military tactic that uses suppressive fire, or threat thereof, to decrease the enemy's ability to return fire, organization and unit cohesion, and morale. The tactic is used by small unit commanders on the modern battlefield...

     ("vuur en beweeg" in Afrikaans) tactics
    Military tactics
    Military tactics, the science and art of organizing an army or an air force, are the techniques for using weapons or military units in combination for engaging and defeating an enemy in battle. Changes in philosophy and technology over time have been reflected in changes to military tactics. In...

     employed by the Boers, especially Commandant Smit
    Nicolas Smit
    Nicolas Smit was a Boer general in the First Boer War.He won the Battle of Majuba Hill, the most important battle of this war....

     in his final assault on the hill, were years ahead of their time.
  • Coupled with the defeats at Laing's Nek
    Battle of Laing's Nek
    The Battle of Laing's Nek was a major battle fought at Laing's Nek during the First Boer War on 28 January 1881.-Background:Following the Boer declaration of independence for the Transvaal in 1880 the British suffered a series of disastrous defeats in attempting to regain the territory.On 20...

     and Schuinshoogte
    Battle of Schuinshoogte
    Battle of Schuinshoogte Also known as Ingogo, was a battle fought at on 8 February 1881 during the First Boer War. General Sir George Pomeroy Colley's communications with Newcastle were under constant harassment by mounted Boer patrols under Commander J D Weilbach after the Battle of Laing's Nek ...

    , this third crushing defeat at the hands of the Boers ratified the strength of the Boers in the minds of the British, arguably to have consequences in the Second Anglo-Boer War. "Remember Majuba" became a rallying cry.

External links

  • Majuba Day Celebration. The Right Perspective interviews Dr. Lets Pretorius
    Johan Pretorius
    Johan "Lets" Pretorius is a medical doctor from Potgietersrus, South Africa as well as a right-winger who belongs to the Boeremag, an irredentist organization...

    , Maj. Henry Pinkham (ret.) of the SADF, Gerhard Combrinck, and 92-year old Oom Harhetz van Blerk, about Majuba Day, the day commemorating the battle.
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