Military History of Australia During The Second Boer War - Closing Stages

Closing Stages

By the beginning of 1901, British forces were in control of almost all Boer territory, with the exception of some zones in northern Transvaal. While the Boers continued to conduct raids against British infrastructure and supply lines, their ability to disrupt British operations, or launch significant attacks had been totally reduced. Boers returned to their local districts in the hope that locals that knew them would offer sustenance and support. Although the Boers continued to hit back when they could, once the armies were dispersed their effectiveness diminished greatly. By mid-1901, the bulk of the fighting was over, and British mounted units would ride at night to attack Boer farmhouses or encampments, overwhelming them with superior numbers. Indicative of warfare in last months of 1901, the New South Wales Mounted Rifles traveled 1,814 miles (2,919 km) and were involved in thirteen skirmishes, killing 27 Boers, wounding 15, and capturing 196 for the loss of 5 dead and 19 wounded. Other notable Australian actions included Sunnyside, Slingersfontein, Pink Hill, Rhenosterkop and Haartebeestefontein.

By 1902 British and colonial forces were concentrating on denying the Boers movement. Using the blockhouses, armoured trains, concentration camps, and denial of supplies, the British eventually began to starve the Boers into submission. The British began to utilise ‘sweeper columns’ on mounted infantry that ranged across entire districts, hunting and harassing any armed men they could find.

The British policy of containment and dispersal had been highly effective, and by March 1902, all significant opposition from the Boers had ended. In March, the British offered peace terms, but these were rejected by Louis Botha. Suffering from disease and starvation, the last of the Boers surrendered in May, and on 31 May 1902, thirty delegates from the former South African Republic and Orange Free State met British officials in Vereeniging to discuss terms. Out of the negotiations Jan Smuts and Lord Kitchener produced the Treaty of Vereeniging (also known as the Peace of Vereeniging), in which the Boer republics agreed to end hostilities, surrender their independence, and swear allegiance to the crown. In exchange, a general amnesty would be granted, no death penalties would be administered, and Dutch and Afrikaans would be permitted in schools and courts.

Although a brief period of self-government as British dominions followed, Cape Colony, Colony of Natal, Orange River Colony, and Transvaal were soon abolished by the South Africa Act 1909, which created a new British dominion over the whole of southern Africa, known as the Union of South Africa.