Battle of Colenso
Dec 15, 1899
Boer Force
Commandant-General: General Louis Botha
13 Commandos
Totalling: 4500 Boers & 12 guns
General Botha’s position along the Thukela River in the Colenso sector is fairly strong, as Botha has had time to entrench his troops and has been watching the British advance. The British are poised to attack through the Colenso sector to relieve the 13,000 British troops surrounded at Ladysmith. General Botha must prevent the British from breaking through.
Objective:
- Hold the British back from taking the hills and breaking through this area.
Intelligence
Drifts are located along the Thukela river and attempts have been made to try to make them unfordable to the British.
The railway bridge is destroyed and the wagon bridge is standing.
Four British Infantry Brigades, and a Mounted Brigade have been spotted. As well, approximately 35 guns have been spotted.
The Kopjes and Fort Wylie have an excellent command of the surrounding area.
The Boers (who are dug in) are hidden from the British.
The Boers have smokeless rifle and gun powder.
Glossary
Boer - Dutch for "tiller of the ground". The word was applied to cattle-breeders as well as agriculturists, and is frequently used in the plural form to signify the whole rural population of European blood, speaking the Dutch language.
Commando - A levy of local or territorial division of the militia; a body of burghers called out for military purposes.
Commandant - The Captain of a Commando.
Donga - Gully/Ravine.
Drift - Fordable crossing point in a stream or river.
Kraal - South African village of huts enclosed by fence; enclosure for cattle or sheep.
Lager - Dutch word meaning an enclosure for protective purposes, such as a circular wall of stone, or a number of wagons lashed together.
Boer Force
Commandant-General: General Louis Botha
Transvaal Staatsartillerie
1-5" Krupp Howitzer
1-Maxim Nordenfeldt Pom-Pom (1 pdr)
1st Battery (5-75mm Creusot)
2nd Battery (5-75mm Krupp)
Commandoes
Commandant C. Botha (Swaziland)
Commandant Grobler (Ermelo)
Commandant Oosthuizen (Krugersdorp)
Commandant Joubert (Wakkerstroom)