Battle of Elands River (1900)

Battle of Elands River
Part of the Second Boer War
A soldier from the 3rd New South Wales Bushmen at Elands River a year after the battle
Date 4–16 August 1900 Location Brakfontein Drift Result Boer attack repulsed; British garrison relieved
Belligerents
British Empire  United Kingdom  Queensland  Victoria  Western Australia  South Australia  Tasmania Rhodesia  New South Wales  Canada	South African Republic
Commanders and leaders
Charles Hore Walter Tunbridge	Koos de la Rey
Strength
297 Australians 201 Rhodesians 3 Canadians 3 Britons	2,000 – 3,000
Casualties and losses
12 soldiers killed and 36 wounded 4 civilians killed and 15 wounded	Unknown

 British Empire

The Battle of Elands River was an engagement of the Second Boer War that took place between 4 and 16 August 1900 in western Transvaal. The battle was fought nearby the Elands River between a force of 2,000 to 3,000 Boers who attacked a garrison of 500 Australian, Rhodesian, Canadian and British soldiers, who were stationed at Brakfontein Drift near the Elands River to act as a garrison for a British supply dump. Over the course of 13 days, the garrison was heavily shelled and attacked with small arms. Outnumbered and surrounded, the garrison was asked to surrender, but refused. The siege was subsequently lifted when the garrison was relieved by a 10,000-strong flying column led by Lord Kitchener.

In December 1899, the fighting in South Africa moved into a second stage. The earlier phase of the campaign had been characterised by the British Army's use of large-scale conventional infantry forces which suffered heavy casualties in engagements with highly mobile Boer forces. The British then launched a series of counter-offensives that managed to capture and secure the main population centres in South Africa, divorcing the Boers from their supply base. Most of the major Boer forces had surrendered to the British. In response, the Boers, including many who dishonoured their parole after having surrendered and others who had melted away back into civilian life to avoid their capture upon surrender, began a guerrilla warfare campaign. Operating in small groups, Boer commandos attacked columns of troops and supply lines, carrying out sniping, ambushing and launching raids on isolated garrisons and supply depots.

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