Battle of Stormberg

Positions at the Battle of Stormberg, 10 December 1899.

Boer positions : black and white boxes
British positions : boxes with cross

Date	10 December 1899
Location	Stormberg, Cape Colony, South Africa 31°17′53″S 26°15′17″E / 31.29806°S 26.25472°E / -31.29806; 26.25472Coordinates: 31°17′53″S 26°15′17″E / 31.29806°S 26.25472°E / -31.29806; 26.25472
Result	Boer victory

Belligerents

United Kingdom

Orange Free State

Commanders and leaders

William Forbes Gatacre

Field Kommandant Olivier

Strength

1,800 infantry
250 mounted troops
12 guns

2,300 men
3 guns

Casualties and losses

26 killed
68 wounded
696 captured

probably 8 killed and 26 wounded

The Battle of Stormberg was the first British defeat of Black Week, in which three successive British forces were defeated by Boer irregulars in the Second Boer War.

When the British first drew up a plan of campaign against the Boer republics, it was intended that the 3rd Division commanded by Major General William Forbes Gatacre would secure the area known as the Cape Midlands, immediately south of the Orange Free State, in preparation for an advance along the railway running from Cape Town to Bloemfontein. In the event, many of the division's troops had to be diverted to Natal after disasters there, and Gatacre's reduced force arrived late. By the time they were ready to take the field, Boers from the Orange Free State had already seized the important railway junction of Stormberg.

Gatacre heard of the loss of Stormberg on 8 December at Graaff Reinet. He determined to make an immediate counterattack to recover the place. A force of 3,000 was to be taken by train to Molteno, the nearest railway station to Stormberg still in British hands, and march by night to attack a hill known as the Kissieberg, which dominated the Boers' position. The force consisted of the 2nd Battalion, the Northumberland Fusiliers (960 men), the 2nd Battalion, the Royal Irish Rifles, (840 men), the 74th and 77th batteries of the Royal Field Artillery and 250 mounted infantry detached from various infantry battalions. Other detachments (including the 1st Battalion, the Royal Berkshire Regiment) which were intended to join the force failed to arrive because telegraph orders were not sent.

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Wikipedia