| Battle Of Colenso |
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| battles of the second boer war | |
| colenso | |
| battles involving the united kingdom | |
| conflicts in 1899 | |
The Battle of Colenso was fought between British and Boer forces at Colenso , South Africa on 15 December 1899 as part of the Second Boer War . Inadequate preparation and reconnaissance and uninspired leadership led to a heavy, and in some respects humiliating, British defeat. BACKGROUND 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, with limited communications between them. Having detached forces under Generals Lord Methuen and 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 had made some 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. BRITISH PLANS Buller was unable to make any outflanking moves due to a shortage of wagons and draught animals, and he therefore prepared a frontal attack close to the railway line, which was his line of communication. Buller intended the 5th Brigade , an Irish unit commanded by Major General Hart , to cross a drift (ford) two miles upstream of the village of Colenso. Another brigade under Major General Hildyard would occupy the village itself (where there were two bridges across the Tugela, although one had been demolished). On their right, a brigade of colonial light horse and mounted infantry would capture a hill known as Hlangwane which was south of the Tugela but defended by the Boers because it dominated their left flank. Two more infantry brigades were in reserve. THE BATTLE |
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