The Battle of Boomplaats (also referred to as the Battle of Boomplaas) was fought near
Jagersfontein
Jagersfontein is a small town in the Free State province of South Africa.
Origin
The original farm on which the town stands was once the property of a Griqua Jacobus Jagers, hence the name Jagersfontein. He sold the farm to C.F. Visser in 1854. ...
at on 29 August 1848 between the British and the
Voortrekkers. The British were led by
Sir Harry Smith
Lieutenant-General Sir Henry George Wakelyn Smith, 1st Baronet, GCB (28 June 1787 – 12 October 1860) was a notable English soldier and military commander in the British Army of the early 19th century. A veteran of the Napoleonic Wars, he is a ...
,
[Smith, Sir Harry. ‘’The Autobiography of Lieutenant-General Sir Harry Smith Baronet of Aliwal on the Sutlej.’’ Publisher: John Murray, Albemarle Street 190]
/ref> while the Boers were led by Andries Pretorius
Andries Wilhelmus Jacobus Pretorius (27 November 179823 July 1853) was a leader of the Boers who was instrumental in the creation of the South African Republic, as well as the earlier but short-lived Natalia Republic, in present-day South Africa ...
. The British were victorious after one Boer opened fire too early and betrayed their position.
Background
Sir Harry Smith assumed the role of Governor of the Cape in 1847 and begun to unravel the work of the previous governor Sir Peregrine Maitland
General Sir Peregrine Maitland, GCB (6 July 1777 – 30 May 1854) was a British soldier and colonial administrator. He also was a first-class cricketer from 1798 to 1808 and an early advocate for the establishment of what would become the Canad ...
, who had reached agreements with the Basotho and the Griqua leaders which would help maintain British control of the region between the Vaal and Orange Rivers.[ Smith declared to the Griqua leader ]Adam Kok
Adam; el, Ἀδάμ, Adám; la, Adam is the name given in Genesis 1-5 to the first human. Beyond its use as the name of the first man, ''adam'' is also used in the Bible as a pronoun, individually as "a human" and in a collective sense as " ...
that all rent of their land to colonists would be given to the British Crown as opposed to the Griqua leaders getting half of it, while at the meeting with Basotho King Moshoeshoe, he declared while the white farmers would remain on the land in the area, the hereditary land rights of the native chiefs in the area would be maintained after a proclamation of the proposed Orange River Sovereignty
The Orange River Sovereignty (1848–1854) was a short-lived political entity between the Orange and Vaal rivers in Southern Africa, a region known informally as Transorangia. In 1854, it became the Orange Free State, and is now the Free State ...
.[
The Boers had an interest in land that stretched from Potchefstroom to ]Winburg
Winburg is a small mixed farming town in the Free State province of South Africa.
It is the oldest proclaimed town (1837) in the Orange Free State, South Africa and thus along with Griquastad, one of the oldest settlements in South Africa lo ...
and beyond. Smith had assured Andries Pretorius
Andries Wilhelmus Jacobus Pretorius (27 November 179823 July 1853) was a leader of the Boers who was instrumental in the creation of the South African Republic, as well as the earlier but short-lived Natalia Republic, in present-day South Africa ...
that he would not proclaim the land between the two rivers as British until the views of the Boers had been consulted and if less than 80 percent of them were in favour of the British action, Smith said he would not proceed with the proclamation.[ This Boer consultation period was never able to be completed by Pretorius.][ Without consulting the Voortrekkers concerning their interests in the territory, Sir Harry Smith annexed the land between the Vaal and Orange Rivers and ]Drakensberg
The Drakensberg (Afrikaans: Drakensberge, Zulu: uKhahlambha, Sotho: Maluti) is the eastern portion of the Great Escarpment, which encloses the central Southern African plateau. The Great Escarpment reaches its greatest elevation – within th ...
on 3 February 1848 as British, calling it the Orange River Sovereignty.[ The Boers in Winburg upset by the British action appealed to Pretorius for help regain their independence and by June 1848 he raised a commando of around 1000 men.][ Pretorius responded by advancing on Winburg and ran the British magistrate Thomas Biddulph out of town and declared a republic.][ He then proceeded to chase away other British magistrates before he then headed to ]Bloemfontein
Bloemfontein, ( ; , "fountain of flowers") also known as Bloem, is one of South Africa's three capital cities and the capital of the Free State (province), Free State province. It serves as the country's judicial capital, along with legisla ...
where the British Resident Major Henry Warden was installed with 70 men of the Cape Corps
The Cape Corps and its predecessor units were the main military organisations in which the Coloured members of South Africa's population served.
History
As one of the military units of South Africa with one of the longest histories, the Cape ...
. He appealed for help from the Basotho King Moshoeshoe I, but he remained neutral, so Warden retreated from Bloemfontein to the Orange River.
Smith issued orders for a British force to be formed by Colonel George Buller
General Sir George Buller (1802 – 12 April 1884) was an English general officer of the British Army who served in the Rifle Brigade and as a commander of a brigade in the Crimean War.
Life
He was the third son of General Frederick William B ...
and it reached King William's Town
Qonce, formerly known as King William's Town, is a city in the Eastern Cape province of South Africa along the banks of the Buffalo River (Eastern Cape), Buffalo River. The city is about northwest of the Indian Ocean port of East London, South ...
by 28 July and then left on 4 August after other units joined him and proceeded to Colesberg
Colesberg is a town with 17,354 inhabitants in the Northern Cape province of South Africa, located on the main N1 road from Cape Town to Johannesburg.
In a sheep-farming area spread over half-a-million hectares, greater Colesberg breeds many ...
where more units joined as did Sir Harry Smith.[ By 25 August 1848, the British force had arrived at the Orange River crossing point.][ Reports came to Smith that the Boer Commando were within 16 km of the river crossing and were being watched by Boer patrols and when the British crossed the river by 26 August unopposed, headed in the direction of Bloemfontein while Pretorius' commando repositioned to oppose them around Boomplaats.][
]
Order of battle
British - Sir Harry Smith
* four companies Cape Mounted Rifles
The Cape Mounted Riflemen were South African military units.
There were two separate successive regiments of that name. To distinguish them, some military historians describe the first as the "imperial" Cape Mounted Riflemen (originally the ' ...
* two companies Rifle Brigade
* two companies 45th Regiment
* two companies 91st Highlanders Regiment
* three field guns Royal Artillery
The Royal Regiment of Artillery, commonly referred to as the Royal Artillery (RA) and colloquially known as "The Gunners", is one of two regiments that make up the artillery arm of the British Army. The Royal Regiment of Artillery comprises t ...
* Sappers unit
* Medical unit
* 200-250 Griquas
The Griquas (; af, Griekwa, often confused with ''!Orana'', which is written as ''Korana'' or ''Koranna'') are a subgroup of heterogeneous former Khoe-speaking nations in Southern Africa with a unique origin in the early history of the Cap ...
- Andries Waterboer
Andries Waterboer (c.1789 - 1852) was a leader ("kaptijn") of the Griqua people.
He founded the Waterboer dynasty of Griqualand West, and led to a split of the Griqua people, as the factions of the Kok and Barends dynasties migrated to the south ...
and Adam Kok
Boers - Commandant-General Andries Pretorius
* 300-500 Boer commandos
Battle
On the morning of 29 August 1848, the British column stopped at a farm at Touwfontein for their morning meal and at this time Sir Harry Smith was told that Pretorius' force was 19 km away on low hills behind which was a river, across which was a farm called Boomplaats and a higher range behind it with the road heading through a pass.[ By early afternoon, British forces arrived at a flat plain in front of Pretorius' location in the hills and with Smith leading a reconnaissance party to a ridge where they were surprised by the Boers.][ He divided his forces for an attack with his left flank consisting of the Cape Mounted Rifles, the 45th Regiment in the centre and the Rifle Brigade on the right flank while 91st Regiment became his reserve.][ The 45th Regiment came under heavy fire but achieved their objectives when the reserve was called in to assist them. The Rifle Brigade on the right flank would also take their objectives. The Boers attempted to round the British left flank and attack the wagon train in the rear but were stopped by the Cape Mounted Rifles and the Boer hill positions were taken.][ The battle was said to have lasted about four hours with the Boers moving from ridge to ridge before Pretorius' forces retreated toward ]Winburg
Winburg is a small mixed farming town in the Free State province of South Africa.
It is the oldest proclaimed town (1837) in the Orange Free State, South Africa and thus along with Griquastad, one of the oldest settlements in South Africa lo ...
.[ The British forces followed for a few kilometers before darkness fell and continued the following day but the Boers were gone.][ A field hospital was set up later at the Boomplaats farmhouse for the casualties sustained in the fighting.][
]
Aftermath
Boer casualties are recorded in memorials as 9 killed and 7 wounded while a British government notice of the time records the rebel casualties as 49 killed and possibly 150 wounded.[ British memorials record 16 killed and while other records mention as many as 45 wounded and 6 Griquas killed though and a high number of unrecorded wounded.][
Pretorius now retreated to safety to the lands across the Vaal River with a bounty of £1000 announced for his capture while Henry Warden returned to Bloemfontein as the British Resident.][
Due to limited financial and military resources available to British in the Orange River Sovereignty they struggled to maintain control of the boundaries in this territory and saw the possibility of the Boers being used to maintain the security of the remaining British colonies if latter controlled them.][ By 17 January 1852, the ]Sand River Convention
The Sand River Convention ( af, Sandrivierkonvensie) of 17 January 1852 was a convention whereby the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland formally recognised the independence of the Boers north of the Vaal River.
Background
The conven ...
was signed by William S. Hogge and C.M. Owen on behalf of the British and Andries Pretorius on behalf of the Voortrekkers that resulted in the creation of a Boer republic north of the Vaal River
The Vaal River ( ; Khoemana: ) is the largest tributary of the Orange River in South Africa. The river has its source near Breyten in Mpumalanga province, east of Johannesburg and about north of Ermelo and only about from the Indian Ocean. ...
and the eventual South African Republic
The South African Republic ( nl, Zuid-Afrikaansche Republiek, abbreviated ZAR; af, Suid-Afrikaanse Republiek), also known as the Transvaal Republic, was an independent Boer Republic in Southern Africa which existed from 1852 to 1902, when it ...
.[ Negotiations concerning the Orange River Sovereignty soon followed.
On the 23 February 1854, the ]Bloemfontein Convention
The Orange River Convention (sometimes also called the Bloemfontein Convention) was a convention whereby the British formally recognised the independence of the Boers in the area between the Orange and Vaal rivers, which had previously been kno ...
was signed between the British government and Josias Hoffman and six former Voortrekkers that resulted in the British recognising the territory between the Vaal and Orange Rivers as an independent territory and would eventually become the Boer Orange Free State Republic.
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Boomplaats
Conflicts in 1848
Battles involving the United Kingdom
August 1848 events