Battle of Majuba
3,467,850
Published 2015-11-28
The first part of the battle
The bulk of the 405 British soldiers occupying the hill were 171 men of the 58th Regiment with 141 men of the 92nd (Gordon) Highlanders, and a small naval brigade from HMS Dido. Besides the Gordons, most of his troops were inexperienced and their regiments had not seen action since the Crimean War. General Colley had brought no artillery up to the summit, nor did he order his men to dig in against the advice of several of his subordinates, 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, 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. Colley was in his tent when he was informed of the advancing Boers but took no immediate action until after he had been warned by several subordinates of the seriousness of the attack.
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 Gordons held their ground the longest, but once they began to rout the battle was over. The Boers were able to launch an attack which shattered the already crumbling British line.
British retreat
Amidst great confusion and with casualties amongst his men rising, Colley attempted to order a fighting retreat, but was shot and killed 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 and 60th rifles, who had marched from a support base at Mount Prospect, although this made little impact on the Boer forces. Two hundred and eighty-five Britons were killed, captured or wounded, including Captain Cornwallis Maude, son of Government Minister Cornwallis Maude, 1st Earl de Montalt.
As the British were fleeing the hill, many were picked off by the superior rifles and marksmen of the Boers. Several wounded soldiers soon found themselves surrounded by Boer soldiers and gave their accounts of what they saw. Many of them were simply farm boys armed with rifles, and it was a major blow to Britain's negotiating position to have been defeated by a group of Dutch farm boys with a hand full of older soldiers leading them.
All Comments (20)
-
1 of the captured soldiers was a highlander named Hector MacDonald. He fought to the very last, even throwing rocks and fist fighting with the Boers. The boers eventually forced his surrender but out of respect, did not shoot him. He was even commended for his bravery by the Boer commander Pieter Kronje. MacDonald would go on to become a Major General and ADC to Queen Victoria herself, and to this day, his likeness is still portrayed on bottles of “Camp Coffee”! I’m happy to say that he was an ancestor of mine!
-
My grand uncle was a medic at this battle (Joseph John Farmer) and won a VC. He’s buried in Brompton cemetery with his citation etched on a rock from Majuba Hill
-
My grandfather a boer shared these stories with me. A time when grand parents told their grand children history of South Africa. There was no Internet, tvs, mobile phones. Only radio. People communicated with each other. Respected one another. I am happy I was part of that era. Nice to hear the Boers speaking Afrikaans. I had to attend an Afrikaans school because of the Boer war.
-
Thanks for the battle description at the outset. Made it all make much more sense.
-
The Battle of Majuba could aptly be renamed Colley`s Folly. Some inaccuracies:- Colley was asleep when the British were about to be over run. He refused to listen to Hamilton on two occasions as depicted, but both were from his bed. The reserve were laying asleep during the action but Colley refused to call them up.
-
"Sir my position is about to be overrun by thousands of enemy troops!" - "Jolly Good. Keep up the good work commander. Now go join your men and hold position."
-
It looks like the Boers are using the tactic known as "Leap frogging" where two or more squads make a slow advance forward, with each taking taking turns advancing and securing a defensive position, before the other advances. Very effective.
-
Of course, we all immediately knew that "our position is impregnable" were famous last words.
-
Damn... Bounding by platoon-sized elements, good individual techniques (prone position), good suppressive fire. Good command and control. The Boers kicked some serious ass.
-
I'm Dutch and I endorse this film,
-
Excellent movie , excellent video copy, and your explanation of the event is much appreciated
-
Well that was jolly good of him to ignore one of his commanders that his flank was about to be overrun.
-
The fire and maneuver tactic was used very well the Boers here, that combined with good marksmanship and knowledge of terrain is probably what allowed them to win in this battle. Even though the British had the better position, it wasn’t any match for constant and accurate rifle fire while other advance.
-
Those scarlet red uniforms that the British wore during that battle in 1881 sure made an easy target for the Afrikaans Boers who wore a mix of khaki, light-brown earth-tone or neutral dark-brown farming clothing which made good camouflage in the South African landscape. One of the worst defeats for the British army during the 19th century. However, the lessons that the British learned during that war and that battle which included Boer marksmanship, tactical flexibility and good use of ground, was largely forgotten when the second war broke out 18 years later in 1899.
-
Echoes of Spion Kop in the 2nd Boer War, where the troops sat back and let a handful of engineers dig a trench that was 1) too shallow, and 2) in the wrong place. The shovel is your friend.
-
Very interesting video. 'Mr. Hamilton' was then-lieutenant Ian Hamilton. He was shot in the wrist which left is left arm mostly useless for the rest of his life. After the battle he was released by the boers because he was not expected to survive. During the second boer war he would return and now a colonel notably led the main attack at the Battle of Elandslaagte. Here he rallied the British soldiers after a boer counterattack and drove them back. For this action he was recommended for the VC by Sir John French but authorities in London declined the award thinking Hamilton too senior. During WW1 he commanded the Mediterranean Expeditionary Force. Very bad planning by Churchill and Kitchener, Hamilton maybe being more of a tactician instead of a strategist and a lot of others reasons made sure the Dardanelles campaign ended in disaster.
-
Is it just me, or does this battle seem similar to the battle of King's mountain in the American Revolution? If I'm correct, at King's mountain, there was just one British commander who was Scottish named Patrick Ferguson with 1,105 loyalists(only about 125 loyalists wore red coat uniforms) while the American attacking force had 900 mountain frontiersmen. Patrick Ferguson chose to make his stand at the top of King's mountain instead of retreating to Lord Cornwallis's location not wanting to be accused of dishonor and cowardice by Cornwallis. Patrick Ferguson also made the mistake of not fortifying his position with strong earthworks, breastworks, and any abatis. He believed the high ground with the trees and rocks surrounding his position as obstacles for the American patriots would be enough. When the Americans caught up and attacked, they used very similar tactics to the boers at Majuba. The American patriots took cover behind the rocks and trees, fired well aimed shots with their longer range rifles, move to the next rock or tree for cover, fire another well aimed shot. Then repeat over and over. The british allied loyalists would use linear formation and fire volleys while sustaining heavy casualties. Their volleys either shot too high over the patriot or missed them as the Patriot advanced up the mountain from cover to cover while firing their rifles. However, the difference is the British commander would order 3 bayonet charges against the patriots and the patriots would fall back melting into the forest. When the loyalists fell back to the top of the mountain, the American rebels would come back, take cover, fire, repeat the process all over again. At the end, British commander Patrick Ferguson and 290 loyalists were killed. 163 wounded, and 668 captured. The American patriots suffered smaller losses as 28 killed and 62 wounded. The American patriots won. The battle of Majuba and the battle of King's mountain are so similar. A british commander choosing a high elevated mountain/hill deciding not to build any fortifications assuming the high elevated position would be more than enough to win, and then guerrillas either from the Boer commandos or American frontiersmen advance up the position using cover and concealment while sniping at the british until overrunning the british. That's so similar. Does history really repeat itself? Please forgive me if I got anything wrong out of my comparison. What does anyone else think. Does the battle of Majuba Hill of the Boer war seem very similar to the battle of King's mountain of the American Revolution?
-
It seems from this, a telling factor was that fighting an uphill battle was beneficial. Above, the redcoats presented silhouettes to aim at whilst the burghers hugged the slopes, presenting very lean targets by comparison.
-
Interesting fact. There were more British soldiers that died in the battle of Isandlwana compared to the whole first Anglo Boer war.
