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Battle Of Elands River (1901)
The Battle of Elands River took place near the Elands River Poort mountain pass on 17 September 1901 during the Second Boer War. During the battle a Boer raiding force under Jan Smuts destroyed a British cavalry squadron led by Captain Sandeman, a cousin of Winston Churchill, on the Modderfontein farm. This battle is therefore also known as the Battle of Modderfontein. Background After a year of guerrilla war, the Boer leaders decided to send significant raiding forces into the Cape Colony and Natal. About 1000 Boers in six commandos already operated in the Cape Colony. The Boer leaders hoped to cause an uprising in that Dutch-majority territory or at least to widen the theater of war beyond the Boer republics of Orange Free State and South African Republic. Smuts led a commando south into the Cape Colony, while Louis Botha attempted to cross into Natal. Earlier Boer raids into the Cape Colony proved unsuccessful. All had been eventually hounded out by British mounted columns ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Richard Caton Woodville Jr
Richard is a male given name. It originates, via Old French, from Old Frankish and is a compound of the words descending from Proto-Germanic ''*rīk-'' 'ruler, leader, king' and ''*hardu-'' 'strong, brave, hardy', and it therefore means 'strong in rule'. Nicknames include "Richie", "Dick", "Dickon", " Dickie", "Rich", "Rick", "Rico", "Ricky", and more. Richard is a common English, German and French male name. It's also used in many more languages, particularly Germanic, such as Norwegian, Danish, Swedish, Icelandic, and Dutch, as well as other languages including Irish, Scottish, Welsh and Finnish. Richard is cognate with variants of the name in other European languages, such as the Swedish "Rickard", the Catalan "Ricard" and the Italian "Riccardo", among others (see comprehensive variant list below). People named Richard Multiple people with the same name * Richard Andersen (other) * Richard Anderson (other) * Richard Cartwright (other) * Ri ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Herbert Kitchener
Horatio Herbert Kitchener, 1st Earl Kitchener, (; 24 June 1850 – 5 June 1916) was a senior British Army officer and colonial administrator. Kitchener came to prominence for his imperial campaigns, his scorched earth policy against the Boers, his expansion of Frederick Roberts, 1st Earl Roberts, Lord Roberts' Second Boer War concentration camps, concentration camps during the Second Boer War and his central role in the early part of the First World War. Kitchener was credited in 1898 for having won the Battle of Omdurman and securing control of the Sudan for which he was ennoblement, made Baron Kitchener territorial designation, of Khartoum. As Chief of Staff (1900–1902) in the Second Boer War he played a key role in Roberts' conquest of the Boer Republics, then succeeded Roberts as commander-in-chief – by which time Boer forces had taken to guerrilla fighting and British forces imprisoned Boer civilians in British concentration camps, concentration camps. His term as C ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Breeches
Breeches ( ) are an article of clothing covering the body from the waist down, with separate coverings for each human leg, leg, usually stopping just below the knee, though in some cases reaching to the ankles. Formerly a standard item of Western world, Western men's clothing, they had fallen out of use by the mid-19th century in favour of trousers. Modern athletic garments used for English riding and fencing, although called ''breeches'' or ''britches'', differ from breeches. Etymology ''Breeches'' is a double plural known since c. 1205, from Old English , the plural of "garment for the legs and trunk", from the Indo-European root *bhrg- "break", here apparently used in the sense "divide", "separate", as in Scottish Gaelic briogais ("trousers"), in Breton bragoù ("pants"), in Irish bríste ("trousers") and brycan/brogau in Welsh. Cognate with the Proto-Germanic language, Proto-Germanic word ''*brōk-'', plural ''*brōkiz'', itself most likely from the Proto-Indo-European roo ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Cavalry
Historically, cavalry (from the French word ''cavalerie'', itself derived from "cheval" meaning "horse") are soldiers or warriors who fight mounted on horseback. Cavalry were the most mobile of the combat arms, operating as light cavalry in the roles of reconnaissance, screening, and skirmishing in many armies, or as heavy cavalry for decisive shock attacks in other armies. An individual soldier in the cavalry is known by a number of designations depending on era and tactics, such as cavalryman, horseman, trooper, cataphract, knight, hussar, uhlan, mamluk, cuirassier, lancer, dragoon, or horse archer. The designation of ''cavalry'' was not usually given to any military forces that used other animals for mounts, such as camels or elephants. Infantry who moved on horseback, but dismounted to fight on foot, were known in the early 17th to the early 18th century as '' dragoons'', a class of mounted infantry which in most armies later evolved into standard cavalry while ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Mauser
Mauser, originally Königlich Württembergische Gewehrfabrik ("Royal Württemberg Rifle Factory"), was a German arms manufacturer. Their line of bolt-action rifles and semi-automatic pistols has been produced since the 1870s for the German armed forces. In the late 19th and early 20th centuries, Mauser designs were also exported and licensed to many countries which adopted them as military and civilian sporting firearms. The Gewehr 98 in particular was widely adopted and copied, and is the foundation of many of today's sporting bolt-action rifles. History King Frederick I founded the enterprise as Königliche Waffen Schmieden (literally: Royal Weapons Forges) on 31 July 1811. Originally located partly at Ludwigsburg and partly in Christophsthal, the factory transferred to the former Augustine Cloister in Oberndorf am Neckar, where Andreas Mauser worked as the master gunsmith. Of his seven sons who worked with him there, Peter Paul Mauser showed an outstanding ability to deve ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Deneys Reitz
Deneys Reitz (1882—1944), son of Francis William Reitz, was a Boer warrior who fought in the Second Boer War for the South African Republic against the British Empire. After a period of exile in French Madagascar he returned to South Africa, where he became a lawyer and founded a major South African law firm. In the First World War he fought for the Union of South Africa against the German Empire, and then was an officer in the British Army, commanding several battalions. In later life he was a politician. Deneys Reitz was educated at Grey College, Bloemfontein. While in exile in Madagascar, he wrote about his experience of the Second Boer War (1899–1902). When it was eventually edited and published in 1929 as ''Commando: A Boer Journal of the Boer War'', it still had the freshness and detail of an account written soon after the war. The account is unique in that he was present at virtually every major event of the war. Second Boer War At the age of 17, while visit ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
George Vivian, 4th Baron Vivian
George Crespigny Brabazon Vivian, 4th Baron Vivian (21 January 1878 – 28 December 1940) was a British soldier from the Vivian family who served with distinction in both the Second Anglo-Boer War and World War I. Early life He was born at Connaught Place, London, on 21 January 1878 to Hussey Vivian, 3rd Baron Vivian and Louisa Duff. He was educated at Eton College where he rowed in the VIII and was elected into Pop. Succeeding to the title in October 1893, at the age of 15, he took his seat in the House of Lords in February 1900. He subsequently joined the British Army and was commissioned a cavalry officer as second lieutenant in the 17th Lancers on 14 March 1900. Military career Lord Vivian served with considerable distinction in the Second Anglo-Boer War. Battle of Elands River On 17 September 1901, Smuts' commando encountered the 17th Lancers in the vicinity of Tarkastad. Smuts realised that the Lancers' camp was their one opportunity to re-equip themselves with horses, ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Lieutenant
A lieutenant ( , ; abbreviated Lt., Lt, LT, Lieut and similar) is a commissioned officer rank in the armed forces of many nations. The meaning of lieutenant differs in different militaries (see comparative military ranks), but it is often subdivided into senior (first lieutenant) and junior (second lieutenant and even third lieutenant) ranks. In navies, it is often equivalent to the army rank of captain; it may also indicate a particular post rather than a rank. The rank is also used in fire services, emergency medical services, security services and police forces. Lieutenant may also appear as part of a title used in various other organisations with a codified command structure. It often designates someone who is " second-in-command", and as such, may precede the name of the rank directly above it. For example, a "lieutenant master" is likely to be second-in-command to the "master" in an organisation using both ranks. Political uses include lieutenant governor in various g ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Elands River (Swartkops)
Elands River may refer to any of the following rivers in South Africa: * Elands River (Mpumalanga), a tributary of the Crocodile River (Mpumalanga), part of the Komati River basin, famous for its waterfalls * Elands River (North West), a tributary of the Crocodile River, part of the Limpopo River basin * Elands River (Olifants), a tributary of the Olifants River, part of the Limpopo River basin * Elands River (Swartkops), a tributary of the Swartkops River in the Eastern Cape * Elands River (Tsitsikamma), a small river in the Tsitsikamma Region * Elands River (Umkomazi), a tributary of the Umkomazi River, KwaZulu-Natal * Elands River (Western Cape), a tributary of the Riviersonderend River, part of the Breede River basin * Elands River (Wilge), a tributary of the Wilge River, part of the Vaal River basin Other uses: * Battle of Elands River (1900) The Battle of Elands River was an engagement of the Second Boer War that took place between 4 and 16 August 1900 in western Tran ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Stormberg Mountains
The Stormberg is a range of mountains situated in the Eastern Cape province of South Africa, are an easterly extension of the Bamboesberge and form an outlier of the greater Drakensberg mountain range. They form part of the ' Amatola and Stormberg' region which includes major towns like Grahamstown, East London and Port Alfred. Towns in the Stormberg Mountains include Sterkstroom, Jamestown, Molteno, Dordrecht, Barkly East, Rhodes and Steynsburg. South Africa's only ski resort, Tiffindell, is also situated in these mountains. Geology Geologically, the mountains form part of the Stormberg Series of the Karoo System where some of the only workable coal seams in the Cape are to be found. These coal fields are being explored for possible coal bed methane extraction. History These mountains - like all of South Africa - was originally home to the Khoisan hunter gatherers. The Nguni migrations saw the arrival of the Xhosa herders from the north and the displacement of the Khoisan. Th ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Sir John French
Field Marshal John Denton Pinkstone French, 1st Earl of Ypres, (28 September 1852 – 22 May 1925), known as Sir John French from 1901 to 1916, and as The Viscount French between 1916 and 1922, was a senior British Army officer. Born in Kent to an Anglo-Irish family, he saw brief service as a midshipman in the Royal Navy, before becoming a cavalry officer. He achieved rapid promotion and distinguished himself on the Gordon Relief Expedition. French had a considerable reputation as a womaniser throughout his life, and his career nearly ended when he was cited in the divorce of a brother officer while in India in the early 1890s. French became a national hero during the Second Boer War. He won the Battle of Elandslaagte near Ladysmith, escaping under fire on the last train as the siege began. He then commanded the Cavalry Division, winning the Battle of Klip Drift during a march to relieve Kimberley. He later conducted counter-insurgency operations in Cape Colony. During the Edw ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
