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The 'First Boer War' (Dutch: ''Eerste Boerenoorlog'', Afrikaans: ''Eerste Vryheidsoorlog'', literally First Freedom War) also known as the 'First Anglo-Boer War' or the 'Transvaal War', was fought from 16 December 1880 until 23 March 1881.

Contents

1877 annexation

1880-81 war

1881 peace

See also

References

1877 annexation

The war was precipitated by Sir Theophilus Shepstone who annexed the bankrupt South African Republic (Transvaal Republic) for the British in 1877. The British consolidated their power over most of the colonies of South Africa in 1879 after the Anglo-Zulu War. The Boers protested and in December 1880 they revolted.

1880-81 war

The war began on 16 December 1880 with shots fired by Transvaal Boers (farmers) at Potchefstroom after Transvaal formally declared independence from the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland. It led to the action at Bronkhorstspruit on 20 December 1880, where the Boers ambushed and destroyed a British Army convoy. From 22 December 1880 to 6 January 1881, British army garrisons all over the Transvaal became besieged.
The Boers were dressed in their everyday farming clothes, which were a neutral or earthtone khaki clothing, whereas the British uniforms were still bright scarlet red, a stark contrast to the African landscape, which enabled the Boers, being expert marksmen, to easily snipe at British troops from a distance. Other significant advantages to the Boers included their widespread adoption of the breech loading rifle, which could be aimed, fired, and reloaded from a prone position, and the Boers' unconventional military tactics, which relied more on stealth and speed than discipline and formation.
The besieging of the British garrisons led to the Battle of Laing's Nek on 28 January 1881 where a British force composed of the Natal Field Force under Major-General Sir George Pomeroy Colley attempted to break through the Boer positions on the Drakensberg range to relieve their garrisons. But the Boers, under the command of Piet Joubert repulsed the British cavalry and infantry attacks.
Further actions included the Battle of Schuinshoogte (also known as Ingogo) on 8 February 1881, where another British force barely escaped destruction.
The final humiliation for the British was at the Battle of Majuba Hill on 27 February 1881, where several Boer groups stormed the hill and drove off the British, and Colley was killed. During the Second Boer War, one of the British slogans was ''Remember Majuba''.

1881 peace

Unwilling to get further involved in a war which was already seen as lost, the British government of William Gladstone signed a truce on 6 March, and in the final peace treaty on 23 March 1881, they gave the Boers self-government in the Transvaal under a theoretical British oversight.

See also

★ Anglo-Zulu War

★ Military history of South Africa

★ History of the British Army#South Africa

★ Second Boer War

References

★ Duxbury, Geo. R. ''David and Goliath: The First War of Independence, 1880-1881'' (Johannesburg: SA National Museum of Military History, 1981).