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Siege Of Lydenburg
The siege of Lydenburg was a siege carried out by South African Republican forces on British-occupied Lydenburg, between January and March 1881 during the First Boer War. Despite fierce British resistance, the Boers reclaimed the town following the British defeat at the end of the war. The siege lasted 84 days. Background Lydenburg had fallen under the control of the full strength 94th Regiment. On 5 December 1880, most of the regiment was withdrawn, under Lieutenant-Colonel Anstruther. Fewer than 100 British soldiers were left to maintain British occupation over the town 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 Boer commandos at Bronkhorstspruit whilst marching from Lydenburg to Pretoria. They suffered 156 casualties.Castle, Ian. ''Majuba 18 ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
First Boer War
The First Boer War ( af, Eerste Vryheidsoorlog, literally "First Freedom War"), 1880–1881, also known as the First Anglo–Boer War, the Transvaal War or the Transvaal Rebellion, was fought from 16 December 1880 until 23 March 1881 between the United Kingdom and Boers of the Transvaal (as the South African Republic was known while under British administration). The war resulted in a Boer victory and eventual independence of the South African Republic. Background In the 19th century a series of events occurred in the southern part of the African continent, with the British from time to time attempting to set up a single unified state there, while at other times wanting to control less territory. Three prime factors fuelled British expansion into Southern Africa: * the desire to control the trade routes to India that passed around the Cape of Good Hope * the discovery in 1868 of huge mineral deposits of diamonds around Kimberley on the joint borders of the South African R ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Royal Army Service Corps
The Royal Army Service Corps (RASC) was a corps of the British Army responsible for land, coastal and lake transport, air despatch, barracks administration, the Army Fire Service, staffing headquarters' units, supply of food, water, fuel and domestic materials such as clothing, furniture and stationery and the supply of technical and military equipment. In 1965 its functions were divided between other Corps ( RCT and RAOC) and the RASC ceased to exist; subsequently, in 1993, they in their turn (with some functions of the Royal Engineers) became the "Forming Corps" of the Royal Logistic Corps. History For centuries, army transport was operated by contracted civilians. The first uniformed transport corps in the British Army was the Royal Waggoners formed in 1794. It was not a success and was disbanded the following year. In 1799, the Royal Waggon Corps was formed; by August 1802, it had been renamed the Royal Waggon Train. This was reduced to only two troops in 1818 and finally ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Second Boer War
The Second Boer War ( af, Tweede Vryheidsoorlog, , 11 October 189931 May 1902), also known as the Boer War, the Anglo–Boer War, or the South African War, was a conflict fought between the British Empire and the two Boer Republics (the South African Republic and the Orange Free State) over the Empire's influence in Southern Africa from 1899 to 1902. Following the discovery of gold deposits in the Boer republics, there was a large influx of "foreigners", mostly British from the Cape Colony. They were not permitted to have a vote, and were regarded as "unwelcome visitors", invaders, and they protested to the British authorities in the Cape. Negotiations failed and, in the opening stages of the war, the Boers launched successful attacks against British outposts before being pushed back by imperial reinforcements. Though the British swiftly occupied the Boer republics, numerous Boers refused to accept defeat and engaged in guerrilla warfare. Eventually, British scorched eart ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
King's Royal Rifle Corps
The King's Royal Rifle Corps was an infantry rifle regiment of the British Army that was originally raised in British North America as the Royal American Regiment during the phase of the Seven Years' War in North America known in the United States as 'The French and Indian War.' Subsequently numbered the 60th Regiment of Foot, the regiment served for more than 200 years throughout the British Empire. In 1958, the regiment joined the Oxfordshire and Buckinghamshire Light Infantry and the Rifle Brigade in the Green Jackets Brigade and in 1966 the three regiments were formally amalgamated to become the Royal Green Jackets. The KRRC became the 2nd Battalion, Royal Green Jackets. On the disbandment of the 1st Battalion, Royal Green Jackets in 1992, the RGJ's KRRC battalion was redesignated as the 1st Battalion, Royal Green Jackets, eventually becoming 2nd Battalion, The Rifles in 2007. History French and Indian War The King's Royal Rifle Corps was raised in the American colonies i ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Battle Of Majuba Hill
The Battle of Majuba Hill on 27 February 1881 was the final and decisive battle of the First Boer War that was a resounding victory for the Boers. The British Major General Sir George Pomeroy Colley occupied the summit of the hill on the night of 26–27 February 1881. Colley's motive for occupying Majuba Hill, near Volksrust, now in South Africa, may have been anxiety that the Boers would soon occupy it themselves, since he had witnessed their trenches being dug in the direction of the hill. The Boers believed that he might have been attempting to outflank their positions at Laing's Nek. The hill was not considered to be scalable by the Boers for military purposes and so it may have been Colley's attempt to emphasise British power and strike fear into the Boer camp. The battle is considered by some to have been one of the "most humiliating" defeats suffered by the British in their military history. Battle The bulk of the 405 British soldiers occupying the hill were 171 men of ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
George Pomeroy Colley
Major General Sir George Pomeroy Colley, (1 November 1835 – 27 February 1881) was a British Army officer who became Governor and Commander-in-Chief of Natal and High Commissioner for South Eastern Africa. Colley was killed in action, at the Battle of Majuba Hill. Early years He was the third and youngest son of the Hon. George Francis Pomeroy (George Francis Colley from 1830) of Ferney, co. Dublin, by his wife, Frances, third daughter of Thomas Trench, dean of Kildare, and was a grandson of John Pomeroy, 4th Viscount Harberton. Raised in Rathangan, County Kildare, he was educated at Cheam, Surrey, where his headmaster, Dr Mayo, described him as ‘swift to take offence, prompt and vigorous in resenting it’.Sir William Francis Butler, ‘The life of Sir George Pomeroy-Colley, K. C. S. I., C. B.,C. M. G., 1835-1881; including services in Kaffraria--in China--in Ashanti--in India and in Natal’ (1889). He was educated at the Royal Military College, Sandhurst, where he was ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Pretoria
Pretoria () is South Africa's administrative capital, serving as the seat of the Executive (government), executive branch of government, and as the host to all foreign embassies to South Africa. Pretoria straddles the Apies River and extends eastward into the foothills of the Magaliesberg mountains. It has a reputation as an academic city and center of research, being home to the Tshwane University of Technology (TUT), the University of Pretoria (UP), the University of South Africa (UNISA), the Council for Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR), and the Human Sciences Research Council. It also hosts the National Research Foundation (South Africa), National Research Foundation and the South African Bureau of Standards. Pretoria was one of the host cities of the 2010 FIFA World Cup. Pretoria is the central part of the City of Tshwane Metropolitan Municipality which was formed by the amalgamation of several former local authorities, including Bronkhorstspruit, Centurion, Gaute ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Bronkhorstspruit
Bronkhorstspruit is a town 50 km east of Pretoria, Gauteng, South Africa along the N4 highway towards Witbank. It also includes three townships called Zithobeni, Rethabiseng and Ekangala. On 18 May 2011, the Tshwane Metropolitan Municipality took over the municipal administration from the abolished Kungwini Local Municipality, which makes Bronkhorstspruit part of Tshwane. History In 1858, a group of Voortrekkers settled beside the Bronkhorst Spruit creek, which was originally called Kalkoenkransrivier ('turkey cliff river'). The town was laid out on land of the farm ''Hondsrivier'' in 1904 owned by C.J.G. Erasmus and was initially named after him. It adopted the name Bronkhorstspruit in 1935. On 20 December 1880 it was the scene of the Battle of Bronkhorstspruit, an important event in the early days of the First Boer War when a Boer Commando ambushed a British army column, 94th Regiment of Foot, near the present town en route from Lydenburg to Pretoria. There is disagreem ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Battle Of Bronkhorstspruit
The Battle of Bronkhorstspruit was the first major engagement of the First Boer War. It took place by the Bronkhorst Spruit (river), a few kilometres east of the town of Bronkhorstspruit, Transvaal on 20 December 1880. Background On 12 April 1879 the Boer Transvaal Republic was formally annexed by the British Government. The decision was taken on the grounds of the bankruptcy of the Transvaal, and was believed to be supported by at least some of the burghers making up its male electorate. In fact the majority of the Transvaal's suffrage holders were opposed to the annexation as indicated by a petition of 6,000 out of a total number of 8,000 burghers. Only the mostly British commercial community of Pretoria were wholeheartedly in favor of this measure. By the end of 1879 the elimination of the Zulu and Bapedi threats had removed any tolerance that the majority of the Boer population may have had for the protective presence of British troops and administrators in the Transvaal. De ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Walter Long (1793–1867)
Walter Long JP, DL (10 October 1793 – 31 January 1867) was an English magistrate and Conservative Party politician. Background Born in West Ashton in Wiltshire, he was the oldest son of Richard Godolphin Long and his wife Florentina, daughter of Sir Bourchier Wrey, 6th Baronet. Long was educated at Winchester College and then went to Christ Church, Oxford, where he graduated with a Master of Arts in 1812. Career Long served as major in the Royal Wiltshire Yeomanry. He entered the British House of Commons in 1835, sitting as a member of parliament (MP) for North Wiltshire for thirty years until 1865. Long was appointed Deputy Lieutenant for Somerset, for Montgomeryshire and for Wiltshire, representing the latter county also as Justice of the Peace. Family On 2 August 1819, he married firstly Mary Anne, second daughter of the politician and lawyer Archibald Colquhoun in Easter Kilpatrick in Dunbartonshire and had by her six children, three daughters and three sons. After her ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Walter Long (lieutenant)
Walter Hillyar Colquhoun Long (20 October 1858 – 18 February 1892) was a British Second Lieutenant who fought in the First Boer War. He was originally a second lieutenant in the 6th Dragoons, but was then transferred to the 94th Regiment of Foot on 27 March 1880. As part of the 94th Regiment, he played a crucial part in the defence of Lydenburg during a three month siege in 1881. He was the son of the British politician Walter Long. He took his life at the Grosvenor Hotel, Buckingham Palace Road, Westminster Westminster is an area of Central London, part of the wider City of Westminster. The area, which extends from the River Thames to Oxford Street, has many visitor attractions and historic landmarks, including the Palace of Westminster, Bu ...,"LONG Walter Hillyar Colquhoun of the Grosvenor Hotel, Buckingham Palace Road Middlesex" in ''Wills and Administrations 1892 (England and Wales)'' (1893), p. T 145 after being court-martialled and criticised for his co ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
94th Regiment Of Foot (1823)
The 94th Regiment of Foot was a British Army line infantry regiment, raised as the Scotch Brigade in October 1794. It was renumbered as the 94th Regiment of Foot in December 1802 and disbanded in December 1818. The regiment was reformed in December 1823 and served until 1881 when it amalgamated with the 88th Regiment of Foot to form the Connaught Rangers. History Formation The regiment was raised, from officers who had previously served in the Scots Brigade, by General Francis Dundas as the Scotch Brigade on 9 October 1794.Historical record, p. 246 The regiment embarked for Gibraltar in November 1795Historical record, p. 248 and then moved on to South Africa in 1796 before transferring to India in late 1798. The regiment landed at Madras in January 1799 and saw action at the Battle of Mallavelly in March 1799Historical record, p. 249 and the siege of Seringapatam in April 1799 during the Fourth Anglo-Mysore War.Historical record, p. 251 It was renumbered as the 94th Regimen ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
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