Counter-offensives
The beginning of 1900 saw the first Australian contingents deploying to the north of the Cape Colony. The new year begun much as the previous one had ended though, with the British suffering a further defeat at the Battle of Spion Kop on 23 and 24 January, adding to the set-backs of Black Week. Despite the defeat at Spion Kop, reinforcements were flooding in from both Britain and the Empire. The 1st New South Wales Mounted Rifles, 'A' Field Battery of the NSW Artillery, the NSW Medical Team, and the 2nd Victorian Mounted Rifles all arrived in February, and the 2nd Queensland Mounted Infantry arrived in March. These Australian units joined the British forces being assembled by Lord Roberts, who had replaced General Buller in January, following concerns over his leadership through the bleak losses of the previous December.
Lord Roberts was placed in command of a five-division strong force of reinforcements sent to launch a counter-invasion of the Orange Free State. By mid-February his force amounted to over 180,000 men, the largest British expeditionary force deployed on overseas operations up to that date. His original plan had involved his column conducting an offensive north along the railway from Cape Town to Bloemfontein, and onto Pretoria. When they progressed north, the discovered the beleaguered forces under siege at Ladysmith and Kimberley. Upon discovering the nature of the situation with the sieges, Roberts broke his force up into several detachments to deal with each of the sieges. One force was commanded by Lieutenant-General John French, and consisted primarily of cavalry. French’s detachment also included the New South Wales Lancers, Queensland Mounted Infantry, and New South Wales Army Medical Corps.
The British victory at Modder River had finally permitted the relief of Kimberley, and the retreating Boers were chased down and again engaged at the Battle of Paardeberg which took place between 18 and 27 February 1900. The New South Wales Mounted Rifles and 1st Queensland Mounted Infantry both took part in this engagement, with the NSW Rifles managing to capture the Boer General Piet Cronjé. His capture caused a massive blow to Boer morale over the rest of the conflict. The British column broke the siege of Ladysmith on 28 February, and entered Bloemfontein on 13 March. Despite suffering heavy casualties from both battle and disease, the British continued to drive on towards Pretoria.
The second wave of units from the Australian colonies began to arrive in April. This wave consisted primarily of the “bushmen” units. The men for these newly raised units were recruited from a wide range of locales and had been primarily funded through either public subscription, or the donations of wealthy citizens who wished to been seen as contributing to the war effort. These units were again mounted infantry, and consisted of men with a natural skill at horsemanship and riflery. The 1st Bushmen Contingent (NSW), The Queensland Citizen Bushmen, The South Australian Citizen Bushmen, The Tasmanian Citizen Bushmen, The Victorian Citizen Bushmen, and the Western Australian Citizen Bushmen all landed and headed towards Rhodesia in April.
By May, the Australian contingents numbered over 3,000, and they were involved in the thick of the fighting, including the action at Driefontein, and the Relief of Mafeking on 17 May, which provoked wild celebrations on the streets of London. The third contingents from the Australian colonies had also begun to arrive in southern Africa. These were ‘Imperial Bushmen’ units, which were identical in composition, recruitment and structure as the preceding ‘bushmen’ units, except that they had been funded by the Imperial government in London as opposed to local subscription and donation. The British government had been so impressed by the performance of the Australian units that they had decided to fund the raising of additional units.
An outbreak of typhoid badly affected the British and Empire forces, but they were soon able to resume their campaign. Roberts’ column was again halted briefly at Kroonstad due to problems with supplies, but after 10 days they continued the push towards Johannesburg. On 28 May The Orange Free State was formally annexed, and renamed as the Orange River Colony. By 30 May, Johannesburg had also fallen into the hands of Lord Roberts’ force, and four days later the Boers were retreating from Pretoria. Men from all of the Australian units were in some way involved in the taking of Johannesburg. Pretoria, the capital of Transvaal Republic fell into British hands on 5 June. The first men into Pretoria, were the New South Wales Mounted Rifles, whose commander, Lt. William Watson persuaded the Boers to surrender the capital. Heavy fighting soon again broke out in the Battle of Diamond Hill on 11 and 12 June, fought to prevent the Boer reinforcements from recapturing Pretoria. Men from each of the Australian contingents, most notable the New South Wales, and Western Australian Mounted Rifles all took part in this battle, which was seen as a victory by both sides. Lord Roberts was please to have forced the Boers to retreat from Pretoria, but the forces of Louis Botha had inflicted heavy casualties on the British forces.
Orange Free State President Martinus Theunis Steyn, and President Paul Kruger of the South African Republic, had both retreated with surviving elements of their governments, into eastern Transvaal. Roberts was determined to capture the rebel presidents to end any opposition to British rule. He joined up with Buller’s remaining forced from Natal, and advanced into the eastern Transvaal against them.
The British met a 5,000 strong Boer force under General Louis Botha at the Battle of Bergendal which lasted from 21 to 27 August, and would prove to be the last set-piece battle of the war. Despite fierce resistance, the Boers were overwhelmed by the 20,000 strong British force. The broken Boers retreated from the field, and the next day, 28 August, the British marched into Machadodorp, hoping to capture the Boer presidents. They had already left for Nelspruit, where the temporarily established their governments. With the British still in pursuit, Kruger and his former Transvaal government ministers were nearly cornered. However the Queen of the Netherlands felt a high degree of sympathy towards the Boers, and offered Kruger a means of escape. Ignoring a Royal Navy blockade, 20 year old Queen Wilhelmina of the Netherlands sent the Dutch warship De Gelderland to their rescue. Kruger escaped to lived in exile in Switzerland, but died there in 1904.
The Battle of Bergendal had forced the Boers to abandon their hopes of achieving an outcome through direct, military confrontation of the enemy. But despite their defeats much of the Boer army remained intact, and Botha dispersed his men to Lydenburg and Barberton to begin a new phase of the conflict.
With all of the major population centres under British control, Roberts declared the war to be over on 3 September 1900, and formally annexed the South African Republic, declaring all formerly Boer territory to be under British control.
Read more about this topic: Military History Of Australia During The Second Boer War