Entrapment, the Battle of Colenso
Proffessor Gunther Hauptman dropped the huge stack of papers heavily onto his scarred wooden desk and hurried to open one of the large windows that faced out onto the brown landscape of a school in the middle of an African summer. It was 40 degrees in the shade outside and, he thaught pausing to give the old airconditioner a dejected kick in passing, worse inside becuase this stupid thing isnt working! The school really needed to funnel some more funds into the history department, he moaned to himself. Waves of heat rose from the parched yellowed grass outside as a group of boys kicked a faded soccer ball around the yard.
"They dont pay me enough for this" Hauptman mumbled under his breath and picked up the first paper in the stack, pushing a battered pair of steel rimmed reading glasses onto his long nose. Picking up his trusty marking pen, he bagan to read.
Decisive Battles of the Boer War
The battle of Colenso was undoubtably one of the most decisive battles of the war between the British and the Boer Republics. In the month since the outbreak of hostilities, the Boer forces had won several victories against the British forces garrisoned along the borders of the Trasvaal and Oranje Free State.
Boer commandoes which had previously infiltrated the British territories or indeed entire units made up of Boers living within the Cape and Natal provinces quickly cut telegraph lines and bombed railways leading into the three major settlments close to the borders of the Republics, namley Kimberley, Ladysmith and Mafeking. It was this lack of communication between besieged British forces in these settlments, who had faced the full force of an enemy equiped with modern weaponry and training, and the forces sent to relieve them that would result in several military disasters such as the battle, nay slaughter, of Colenso.
Shortly before the outbreak of the war, General Redvers Buller was appointed Commander in Chief of the all the British forces in South Africa. On arrival, he found British garrisons besieged on widely separated fronts. Having detached forces under Generals Lord Methuen and General Gatacre to the western and central fronts, Buller assumed command of his largest detachment and proposed to lead it to the relief of a besieged British force in Ladysmith, in Natal.
On this front, the Boers under General Louis Botha had made some large scale raids and reconnaissances into the southern part of the province, but in the face of a large British army, they had retired north of the Tugela River at Colenso and dug in there, blocking the road and railway line to Ladysmith and the small Boer force that had remained stationed in seige around the settlement.
Indeed it would be a combination of several key factors that would win the day for the Boers. Despite having far inferior numbers to the British, who could move an estimated 20,000 troops against Colenso, the Boers were led by an able commander in General Botha. Botha could call on 5000 troops, and the British, having recieved no reports from the battle at Ladysmith which had demonstrated the firepower available to the Boer army. Buller made the mistake of underestimating his enemy, reasoning that 20, 000 British regulars would crush any resistance from the Boer army. With such a numeretical advantage, Buller decided to advance ahead of his supply train with the aim of quickly defeating the Boers in open battle before the day was out.
The terrian around the town or rather villiage of Colenso naturaly favoured the defenders. A wide river could only be crossed at several shallow fords, creating natural choke points. The river was also flanked by tall, rocky outcrops, on which Botha arrayed his Maxims and heavy artillery pieces.
Buller intended the 5th Brigade, an Irish unit commanded by Major General Hart, to cross a drift two miles upstream of the village of Colenso. Another brigade under Major General Hildyard would occupy the village itself. On their right, a brigade of Australian colonial light horse and mounted infantry would capture a hill known as Hlangwane. Two more infantry brigades were in reserve.
Early on the morning of 15 December 1899, Hart gave his men half an hour's parade ground drill, then led them in close column towards the ford. His locally recruited guide, who spoke no English, led the brigade to the wrong ford, at the end of a loop in the river. Botha had ordered his men to hold their fire until the British tried to cross the river, but Hart's brigade jammed into the loop of the river was too good a target to miss. The Boers opened fire with three concieled Maxim's and the massed rifle fire of 400 soldiers. Hart's brigade was completly annhialted, cut down by the cross-fire of the machineguns and unnable to retreat through the swift waters of the river.
At hearing this, the British commander General Buller paniced, sending both reserve battalions into the river in an attempt to extracate Harts Irish troops. it has been reported that the Boer Maxims ran out of ammunition, so pletiful were the targets, choking the river in a mass of the dead and dieing, the water running red with the blood of 3000 British dead or wounded.
Meanwhile, as Hildyard moved towards Colenso, two batteries of field guns under Colonel Long forged ahead of him, and deployed in the open well within rifle range of the nearest Boers. Once again, this was too tempting a target, and the Boers opened fire. The British gunners fought on even though suffering heavy casualties, but were eventually forced to take shelter in a dry stream bed behind the guns, eventually retreating under heavy fire from the Boers German made Mauser rifles, leaving 15 vitaly valuable guns behind.
Boer artillery had also taken a wicked toll on the Australian light horse, which was unnable to penetrate the defensive trenches dug at the foot of the hill by the Boers as shells rained down from the battery dug in atop the rise. Men and horses we cut down, and despite a brave attempt by some 20 Australian soldiers who charged the trenches under heavy fire and engaged in hand-to-hand combat with the Boer defenders, the situation could not be remedied, a combination of terrible terrain and Boer defences (see below) were simply too strong for the Australians, who took an estimated 150 casualties, at least half of which were deaths.
In a last desperate attempt to win the day, Buller himself lead 2000 men in a charge over open terrain in an attempt to retake the lost cannon and bring some heavy firepower against the Boer possitions.
This proved to be a suicidal action, as Boer heavy guns which had untill this time remained silent on the orders of General Botha opened fire, tearing gaping holes in the advancing human wall. After a day fighting a losing battle under the hot African sun with no food or water due to General Bullers decision to advance ahead of his supply wagons (which were subsequently delayed by rough terrain) this was to be the straw that broke the camels back. The British broke and ran, by the time Buller had came within range of the Boer rifles, less than 200 men continued the charge. General Buller died in the first volly of Mauser fire.
The British army which had advanced with the goals of relieving Ladysmith had fallen into an elaberate death trap of General Botha's design and had been defeated peacemeal. The number of dead could not be accuratly counted as many were carried away in the swift currents of the river, however estimates run as high as 7000.
Without any opposition from the British or Australian cavalry, which had also broken and fled the field, Botha's mounted infantry and raiders ran down many more fleeing British soldiers, taking bloody revenge for decades of oppressive British rule.
By the end of the day, less than 3000 British, Irish and Australians were left to make a disorganised retreat back to the supply column, as many had simply thrown down their arms and surrendered in the face of the Boer cavalry.
News of the defeat sent shockwaves through the ordinary Briton back in Europe, causing a nation-wide uproar, British and continental newspapers demanded to know how and why the pride of the British Empires military had been defeated by a force a quarter its own size. The ailing Queen Victoria herself demanded that this attrocity not go unpunished. While the victory at Colenso won General Botha and the Boers a decicive victory that laid Natal province bare before his armies, the new detatchments of troops quickly ferried from Portsmouth and indeed from nations all over the British Commonwealth in reply to the defeat, could well have cost them the war.
Hauptman looked up supprised. His marking pen lay disgarded and looking at the time he realised two whole hours had passed, the dark red summer sun was beginning to set behind Table Mountain, the monolyth that overlooked the city of Cape Town. He could only shake his head at the savagery of men, before picking up his pen and marking A+ at the top of the sheet.
He picked up the pile of unmarked papers and stuffed them into his briefcase. It was passed 5pm he reasoned, so if he wasnt getting paid, the rest of the marking could wait untill tomorrow.