Siege of Lydenburg

Part of First Boer War

Date	6 January 1881 – 30 March 1881
Location	Lydenburg, British-occupied Transvaal (Transvaal Colony) Coordinates: 25°05′46″S 30°26′46″E / 25.096°S 30.446°E / -25.096; 30.446
Result	Boer victory; Lydenburg is captured

Belligerents

United Kingdom

Republic of Transvaal

Commanders and leaders

Second Lieutenant Walter Long

Commandant Dietrich Muller

Commandant Johannes Petrus Steyn

Units involved

94th Regiment of Foot

Royal Engineers

Unknown

Strength

50-55 men of the 94th Regiment
7-8 Royal Engineers
8-10 volunteers and men from the Army Service Corps
Total: 60-70 men

6 January 1881: 200-250 men;
Following 6 January: 500-600 men.

Casualties and losses

3-4 killed, 19 wounded

Unknown

94th Regiment of Foot

The Siege of Lydenburg was a siege carried out by the Boer Republic of Transvaal on Lydenburg, modern day South Africa, between January and March 1881 during the First Boer War. Despite fierce British resistance, the town fell to the Boers following British defeat during the First Boer War. The siege lasted 84 days.

Lydenburg was controlled by the full force 94th Regiment. On 5 December 1880, most of the regiment was withdrawn, under Lieutenant-Colonel Anstruther. Less than 100 British forces were left to defend the city, under the command of Second Lieutenant Walter Long, son of the British politician with the same name. On 20 December 1880, six officers and 246 men of the 94th Regiment, along with 12 men of the Army Service Corps and 4 men of the Army Hospital Corps, were attacked by 250 Boers at Bronkhorstspruit whilst marching from Lydenburg to Pretoria. They suffered 156 casualties. This begun the First Boer War.

Following the outbreak of the war, Long received orders from Pretoria to defend Lydenburg. Long acted by building a fort and constructing stone walls around it to improve defences. The fort, known as Fort Mary, consisted of eight thatched huts connected by stone walls. Fort Mary provided cover for British forces and would allow Long to successfully fight off the Boers for three months. The British stored 200,000 rounds of ammunition, left behind by the main force of the 94th Regiment under Anstruther, in preparation for a Boer siege. The British had at their disposal three months' supply of meat, eight months' supply flour for bread making, and supplies of groceries and vegetables, in order to survive the siege.

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