Battle of the Tugela Heights

Battle of the Tugela Heights
Part of Second Boer War
Date 14–27 February 1900 Location Colenso, KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa 28°41′S 29°50′E / 28.683°S 29.833°E / -28.683; 29.833 (Battle of the Tugela Heights)Coordinates: 28°41′S 29°50′E / 28.683°S 29.833°E / -28.683; 29.833 (Battle of the Tugela Heights) Result British victory
Belligerents
United Kingdom	South African Republic  Orange Free State
Commanders and leaders
Redvers Buller	Louis Botha
Strength
c. 20,000, 50 guns	c. 5,000, 8 guns
Casualties and losses
2,300 dead, wounded or missing	200 KIA

The Battle of Tugela (or Thukela) Heights, consisted of a series of military actions lasting from 14 February through 27 February 1900 in which General Sir Redvers Buller's British army forced Louis Botha's Boer army to lift the Siege of Ladysmith during the Second Boer War.

Buller's army had made three earlier attempts to raise the Boer siege of Ladysmith. The battles of Colenso, Spionkop and Vaal Krantz each resulted in embarrassing British defeats at the hands of Botha's army of Boer irregulars. In three months, British casualties rose to 3,400 men while Boer losses were much lower. On 12 February, Buller ordered a fourth attempt to relieve Ladysmith. He hoped to exploit his ten-to-one superiority in artillery and four-to-one advantage in numbers.

The direct route to Ladysmith lay along the railroad, which ran mostly north and south. The railroad crossed the Tugela River at Colenso, ran along the north bank of the river, snaked between Railway Hill and Pieters Hill and continued to Ladysmith. While their main defences were north of the river, the Boers also held a number of ridges south of the river and east of Colenso. The Tugela runs generally east to Colenso, but near the railroad bridge the river turns north, then northeast. Along the northeasterly stretch, the river and railroad are commanded by a series of hills which represented the Boer main line of defence.

A 500 feet (150 m) high ridge named Hlangwane rose northeast of Colenso on the south bank and overlooked the railroad. During the Battle of Colenso, a British attack on Hlangwane was repulsed. Since that time, the Boers had greatly strengthened the ridge. With Hlangwane in his possession, Buller could dominate the Boer positions at Colenso, and safely cross there. To capture Hlangwane, Buller realized that he would first have to rout the Boers from all their positions south of the river, but even with the south bank in his possession, Buller would still have to fight through the Boer-held hills to the north on the river.

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