Battle of Rooiwal
Encyclopedia
The Battle of Rooiwal was an engagement of the Second Boer War
. It took place on 11 April 1902 and resulted in a victory by a British force commanded by Colonel Robert Kekewich
over a Boer commando led by Generals Ferdinandus Jacobus Potgieter and Jan Kemp
.
The action consisted of a Boer attack on horseback on an entrenched British hillside position in the valley of Rooiwal, near Klerksdorp in the Western Transvaal. The Boers were attempting to break out of a British encircling manoeuvre. Their attack was repulsed at some cost to the Boers in killed and injured.
This was the end of the war in the Western Transvaal and also the last major battle of the Anglo-Boer War.
under the overall command of De La Rey. By this time, many Boer fighters had surrendered and some were now working for the British as scouts. Those who remained in the field were referred to as, 'bitter-einders'. Their situation was very difficult as the British had stripped the veld
of food and supplies and had systematically burned Boer farms and homes to deny the guerrillas shelter. Nevertheless, De La Rey's men were able to supply themselves with weapons, food and clothing which they had captured from the British.
They also remained a dangerous enemy and on a number of occasions they had scored victories against British troops. On 24 February 1902, for example, they had mauled a British column at Yser Spruit and on 7 March had captured a British general (Lord Methuen
) and six field guns at Tweebosch
, after routing his command. One reason for the continued Boers successes was the poor quality of some of the British troops in the theatre. Herbert Kitchener had over 16,000 troops operating in the Western Transvaal, but many of them were not regulars, but poorly trained Imperial Yeomanry
.
Kitchener's strategy for bringing the war to an end was to build fortified blockhouse
s across the veld and to mount 'drives' or sweeps of the countryside with mobile columns. The first such sweep in the spring of 1902 lasted from 23 March to 30 March, but produced few results in terms of destroying the Boer commandos. Indeed the British troops suffered a reverse at Boschbult, taking 178 casualties.
in command of another drive to try to trap De La Rey's fighters. The plan was to 'squeeze' the Boers against the British mobile columns and a line of blockhouses and entrenchments at Klerksdorp. Colonel Robert Kekewich
, who was in command of one of Kitchener's columns, dug in at Rooiwal to strengthen his left flank. Having mistakenly gotten tangled up with another British column under Colonel Henry Rawlinson
, Kekewich was ordered by Hamilton to proceed to Rooiwal, where he arrived on 10 April. This change of plan proved to be a fortunate one for the British, because the Boers had scouted the Rooiwal position earlier and found it weakly defended. Dug in on the hillside at Rooiwal were about 3,000 mounted infantry, supported by 6 field gun
s and 2 pom pom
s.
The Boers, however, did not know of the British deployment and they still believed that Rooiwal was only lightly held. One of their commandos, under Commandant Potgieter and General Kemp, therefore tried to overrun the British position early on the morning of 11 April, in an effort to escape Hamilton's 'drive'. Potgieter had around 1,700 men, all mounted riflemen.
At around 7:15 am on 11 April, they charged the British position on horseback, firing from the saddle. A British picket
of 40 mounted infantry
was overrun, taking 20 casualties. Kekewich's position was a strong one, but the sight of the charging Boers panicked some of the inexperienced British troops and a number of Yeoman units fled the scene of the battle and were not stopped until they were a mile away from the fighting. A Lieutenant Carlos Hickie managed to stop the stampede with a mixture of pleas and threats. In addition, a number of the regular British officers on the scene were very critical of the 'wild' shooting of their men.
In spite of this, however, the Boer charge was stopped about 30 metres from the British line by artillery and rifle fire. Fifty Boers were killed outright and more were wounded. Among the dead was Potgieter, wearing a distinctive blue shirt. Kekewich later commented that, 'one good company of infantry could have killed 300 Boers'. The surviving Boers made good their retreat. Boer fire, delivered from the saddle, had produced about 50 casualties in the British line.
Ian Hamilton and Rawlinson arrived on the scene just as the fighting was ending. However, Hamiliton delayed the pursuit of the beaten Boers as he feared that the retreat was a ruse and that his men would fall into Boer ambush
es. At about 9:45, or 90 minutes after the Boer charge had been repulsed, Hamilton sent his mounted troops in pursuit of the enemy. They captured a further 50 Boers and re-captured the artillery lost at Tweebosch.
Kitchener had issued orders that Boers captured wearing British uniforms were to be shot. However, although a number of wounded Boers were indeed wearing captured British khaki
, Hamilton ordered that they be spared.
. De La Rey, the Boer's commander in the Western Transvaal was one of the Boer negotiators.
Second Boer War
The Second Boer War was fought from 11 October 1899 until 31 May 1902 between the British Empire and the Afrikaans-speaking Dutch settlers of two independent Boer republics, the South African Republic and the Orange Free State...
. It took place on 11 April 1902 and resulted in a victory by a British force commanded by Colonel Robert Kekewich
Robert Kekewich
Major General Robert George Kekewich CB was a Victorian era British Army officer.Kekewich was the second son of Trehawke Kekewich, of Peamore House, near Exeter, Devon, and the grandson of Samuel Trehawke Kekewich...
over a Boer commando led by Generals Ferdinandus Jacobus Potgieter and Jan Kemp
Jan Kemp (South African)
Jan Christoffel Greyling Kemp was a South African Boer officer, rebel general and South African politician.-Early life:...
.
The action consisted of a Boer attack on horseback on an entrenched British hillside position in the valley of Rooiwal, near Klerksdorp in the Western Transvaal. The Boers were attempting to break out of a British encircling manoeuvre. Their attack was repulsed at some cost to the Boers in killed and injured.
This was the end of the war in the Western Transvaal and also the last major battle of the Anglo-Boer War.
Background - the war in the Western Transvaal
By 1902, there were roughly 3,000 Boer guerrillas operating in Western Transvaal. There were three separate Boer commandosBoer Commando
The Boer commando was the basic unit of organisation of the militia of the Boer people of South Africa. The term came into English usage during the Second Boer War.-History:...
under the overall command of De La Rey. By this time, many Boer fighters had surrendered and some were now working for the British as scouts. Those who remained in the field were referred to as, 'bitter-einders'. Their situation was very difficult as the British had stripped the veld
Veld
The term Veld refers primarily to the wide open rural spaces of South Africa or southern Africa and in particular to certain flatter areas or districts covered in grass or low scrub...
of food and supplies and had systematically burned Boer farms and homes to deny the guerrillas shelter. Nevertheless, De La Rey's men were able to supply themselves with weapons, food and clothing which they had captured from the British.
They also remained a dangerous enemy and on a number of occasions they had scored victories against British troops. On 24 February 1902, for example, they had mauled a British column at Yser Spruit and on 7 March had captured a British general (Lord Methuen
Paul Methuen, 3rd Baron Methuen
Field Marshal Paul Sanford Methuen, 3rd Baron Methuen GCB, GCMG, GCVO was a British military commander.-Early life:...
) and six field guns at Tweebosch
Battle of Tweebosch
In the Battle of Tweebosch or De Klipdrift on 7 March 1902, a Boer commando led by Koos de la Rey defeated a British column under the command of Lieutenant General Lord Methuen during the final months of the Second Boer War.-Background:...
, after routing his command. One reason for the continued Boers successes was the poor quality of some of the British troops in the theatre. Herbert Kitchener had over 16,000 troops operating in the Western Transvaal, but many of them were not regulars, but poorly trained Imperial Yeomanry
Imperial Yeomanry
The Imperial Yeomanry was a British volunteer cavalry regiment that mainly saw action during the Second Boer War. Officially created on 24 December 1899, the regiment was based on members of standing Yeomanry regiments, but also contained a large contingent of mid-upper class English volunteers. In...
.
Kitchener's strategy for bringing the war to an end was to build fortified blockhouse
Blockhouse
In military science, a blockhouse is a small, isolated fort in the form of a single building. It serves as a defensive strong point against any enemy that does not possess siege equipment or, in modern times, artillery...
s across the veld and to mount 'drives' or sweeps of the countryside with mobile columns. The first such sweep in the spring of 1902 lasted from 23 March to 30 March, but produced few results in terms of destroying the Boer commandos. Indeed the British troops suffered a reverse at Boschbult, taking 178 casualties.
Hamilton's drive
On 6 April, Kitchener put Colonel Ian HamiltonIan Standish Monteith Hamilton
General Sir Ian Standish Monteith Hamilton GCB GCMG DSO TD was a general in the British Army and is most notably for commanding the ill-fated Mediterranean Expeditionary Force during the Battle of Gallipoli....
in command of another drive to try to trap De La Rey's fighters. The plan was to 'squeeze' the Boers against the British mobile columns and a line of blockhouses and entrenchments at Klerksdorp. Colonel Robert Kekewich
Robert Kekewich
Major General Robert George Kekewich CB was a Victorian era British Army officer.Kekewich was the second son of Trehawke Kekewich, of Peamore House, near Exeter, Devon, and the grandson of Samuel Trehawke Kekewich...
, who was in command of one of Kitchener's columns, dug in at Rooiwal to strengthen his left flank. Having mistakenly gotten tangled up with another British column under Colonel Henry Rawlinson
Henry Rawlinson, 1st Baron Rawlinson
General Henry Seymour Rawlinson, 1st Baron Rawlinson, GCB, GCSI, GCVO, KCMG , known as Sir Henry Rawlinson, Bt between 1895 and 1919, was a British First World War general most famous for his roles in the Battle of the Somme of 1916 and the Battle of Amiens in 1918.-Military career:Rawlinson was...
, Kekewich was ordered by Hamilton to proceed to Rooiwal, where he arrived on 10 April. This change of plan proved to be a fortunate one for the British, because the Boers had scouted the Rooiwal position earlier and found it weakly defended. Dug in on the hillside at Rooiwal were about 3,000 mounted infantry, supported by 6 field gun
Field gun
A field gun is an artillery piece. Originally the term referred to smaller guns that could accompany a field army on the march and when in combat could be moved about the battlefield in response to changing circumstances, as to opposed guns installed in a fort, or to siege cannon or mortars which...
s and 2 pom pom
QF 1 pounder pom-pom
The QF 1 pounder, universally known as the pom-pom, was an early 37 mm British autocannon. It was used by several countries initially as an infantry gun and later as a light anti-aircraft gun. The name comes from the sound it makes when firing....
s.
The battle
At around 7:15 am on 11 April, they charged the British position on horseback, firing from the saddle. A British picket
Picket (military)
In military terminology, a picket refers to soldiers or troops placed on a line forward of a position to warn against an enemy advance. It can also refer to any unit performing a similar function...
of 40 mounted infantry
Mounted infantry
Mounted infantry were soldiers who rode horses instead of marching, but actually fought on foot . The original dragoons were essentially mounted infantry...
was overrun, taking 20 casualties. Kekewich's position was a strong one, but the sight of the charging Boers panicked some of the inexperienced British troops and a number of Yeoman units fled the scene of the battle and were not stopped until they were a mile away from the fighting. A Lieutenant Carlos Hickie managed to stop the stampede with a mixture of pleas and threats. In addition, a number of the regular British officers on the scene were very critical of the 'wild' shooting of their men.
In spite of this, however, the Boer charge was stopped about 30 metres from the British line by artillery and rifle fire. Fifty Boers were killed outright and more were wounded. Among the dead was Potgieter, wearing a distinctive blue shirt. Kekewich later commented that, 'one good company of infantry could have killed 300 Boers'. The surviving Boers made good their retreat. Boer fire, delivered from the saddle, had produced about 50 casualties in the British line.
Ian Hamilton and Rawlinson arrived on the scene just as the fighting was ending. However, Hamiliton delayed the pursuit of the beaten Boers as he feared that the retreat was a ruse and that his men would fall into Boer ambush
Ambush
An ambush is a long-established military tactic, in which the aggressors take advantage of concealment and the element of surprise to attack an unsuspecting enemy from concealed positions, such as among dense underbrush or behind hilltops...
es. At about 9:45, or 90 minutes after the Boer charge had been repulsed, Hamilton sent his mounted troops in pursuit of the enemy. They captured a further 50 Boers and re-captured the artillery lost at Tweebosch.
Kitchener had issued orders that Boers captured wearing British uniforms were to be shot. However, although a number of wounded Boers were indeed wearing captured British khaki
Khaki
This article is about the fabric. For the color, see Khaki . Kaki, another name for the persimmon, is often misspelled "Khaki".Khaki is a type of fabric or the color of such fabric...
, Hamilton ordered that they be spared.
Aftermath
The battle was a setback for the Boers, but their casualties were relatively light and most of their fighters escaped the action unscathed. In any case, peace talks to end the war were already imminent. They began on 19 May in PretoriaPretoria
Pretoria is a city located in the northern part of Gauteng Province, South Africa. It is one of the country's three capital cities, serving as the executive and de facto national capital; the others are Cape Town, the legislative capital, and Bloemfontein, the judicial capital.Pretoria is...
. De La Rey, the Boer's commander in the Western Transvaal was one of the Boer negotiators.
Sources
- Thomas Pakenham, The Boer War, Weidenfield and Nicolson Ltd., London 1979, ISBN 029777395X (pp. 556=560)
- Arthur Conan DoyleArthur Conan DoyleSir Arthur Ignatius Conan Doyle DL was a Scottish physician and writer, most noted for his stories about the detective Sherlock Holmes, generally considered a milestone in the field of crime fiction, and for the adventures of Professor Challenger...
, The Great Boer War http://search.aol.co.uk/aol/redir?src=eu_websearch&requestId=null&clickedItemRank=10&userQuery=rooiwal+transvaal+april+1902&clickedItemURN=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.fullbooks.com%2FThe-Great-Boer-War11.html&title=The+Great+Boer+War+by+Arthur+Conan+Doyle+-+Full+Text+Free+Book+%3Cb%3E...%3C%2Fb%3E&moduleId=matchingsites_uk.jsp.M&clickedItemPageRanking=10&clickedItemPage=1&clickedItemDescription=WebResults