Boers positions in the Klipriviersberg 27 – 29 May 1900
From the book: "Veldslae-Anglo-Boereoorlog 1899-1902" by Elria Wessels, Translated by Tom Botha
When General Lord Roberts learned that the Boers had retreated from their positions in Vereeniging without defending them, he is immediately under the impression that they are tired of the war. And that he will reach Johannesburg without any effort. His argument is strengthened by the fact that general J D P French experienced no resistance from the opposition after crossing the Vaalriver during his advance to the east. Roberts decides to take the main army east around Johannesburg to take possession of Germiston and Elandsfontein. French, must march in a westerly direction past Florida, followed by general Ian Hamilton.
French starts the advance at 10H00 on 27 May and is met by resistance. General Lemmer and his burghers continually harass him. Although Lemmer only had 40 men with him, he never hesitated to try and slow down the progress of general French. Veld-cornet Bam had already occupied Rietkuil on the 26 th , just before French got there and succeeded to drive the British front-line back. Eight of his burghers become war casualties, one dies and five are wounded and two, unharmed, are taken as prisoners of war. Amongst the wounded that have to be left in the hands of the Brits, is veld-cornet Bam, whose rifle was shot to pieces against his body. Bam and his burgher's example of courage is an incentive for the small Gideon gang under Lemmer to attack French from every possible position. General F A Grobler reinforces Lemmer's group with 225 of his men. The stronger band of burghers harasses French so much that his progress is almost zero. At Doringkuil he is forced to train a cannon on Lemmer and send out cavalry. But, before, the onslaught begins the Boers disappeared like mist. The last time that Lemmer dares to attack the Brits is at Vlakfontein, the farm of van Staden. He ambushes French as they follow the road through the pass. The fighting died off in the evening around 21H00 and the Boers were still in control of the position. During the night the Boers leave their positions and leave the pass to the Kliprivier in the hands of the uitlanders. The fact that the British are almost in Vanwijksrust is a heavy blow for the Boer leaders in Johannesburg and Pretoria.
General De la Rey leaves for the Klipriviersberg with around 400 – 600 burghers on horseback and arrives at the Boers positions just in time for the battles that took place on 28 and 29 May 1900. They were not the only reinforcements destined for the Klipriviersberg. In Johannesburg and Pretoria all physically able burghers are called up and sent to the front. Unfortunately, they did not reach the battlefield in time and the army, with which general Louis Botha must resist the British army, is less than 4 000 strong.
Dawn, 28 May the Boers are in position and ready for French. In the Klipriviersberg is general Louis Botha with the commando's retrieved from Renosterrivier. On the westerly flank are fighting-general Oosthuizen and his Krugersdorpers and a vanguard of the commando's that fought at Mafeking. On the eastern side at Natalspruit, are the Heidelbergers under general Fourie. In this front the position is ideal to defend, because the marshy Kliprivier protects the south and the southwest. The Kliprivier can only be crossed at a few places: Jacksonsdrift, Vanwijksrust and the eye of the Kliprivier*.
General French is hasty. He lost a lot of time the previous days due to Lemmer and Grobler's actions and fails to thoroughly investigate the Boers positions. The 1 st cavalry brigade and lieutenant colonel E A H Alderson's mounted infantry are sent over the drift at Vanwijksrust. French marches further west along the southern bank of the Kliprivier under the impression that the terrain in front is not strongly defended.
The burghers let the uitlanders cross the river unhindered at Vanwijksrust. But, the situation changed drastically, when the Brits got closer to the defence positions all hell broke loose. They are greeted diagonally and from the front by fire from the seven cannons of Captain Von Dalwig that were placed the night before, in a bow on the eastern side of Doringkop. For the British troops it is a very unpleasant surprise, however, they keep storming forward to sweep the Boers from their positions. French, supports the attack with his mounted pom-poms and maxims. The return fire from the Brits cannot silence the big guns of the Boers and the British onslaught is stopped. French sends the 40 th cavalry brigade across the river to help but they are also stopped. He is now convinced that he cannot stop the Boers with a frontal attack and withdraws the cavalry. French then places major-general E T H Hutton, Alderson and lieutenant colonel T D Pilcher with their mounted infantry on two heights in the front of the Boer positions.
Satisfied, general Louis Botha reports to president Kruger. “Na een warme zware dag is me het aangenaam UHEd. Te melden dat onze burgers door de goedheid des Allerhoogtes hunne posities… hebben behouden… Vijand werd op verschillende puten teruggeschoten…” (On this hot and difficult day I have good news. Our burghers have held and defended their positions on all heights. The enemy have been driven back.
29 May, French resumes the attack and an attempt by Alderson and Pilcher to drive the Boers from their positions fails due to the accurate fire from Von Dalwig's artillery. Ian Hamilton arrives around 10H00 from Wildebeesfontein. After discussions between Hamilton and French a decision is made for Hamilton to attack the Boers from the front while French takes the three cavalry brigades and the mounted infantry to outflank the Boers from Doringkop in the west.
When the Boers saw the British retreating they left their positions to chase the enemy and to cause as many casualties as possible. A heavy battle ensued with the rear-guard of the enemy and this took the attention away from French. Ian Hamilton's troops suffered heavily before they were covered by artillery fire from the 19 th , 74 th , 76 th , 81 st ,and 82 nd field batteries and two 5-inch cannons, occupying the heights were Alderson, Pilcher and Hutton withdrew from on the 28 th .
After the English infantry on the northern banks of the river were given time to rest they are spread out for the big onslaught. Shortly after 14H00 they begin the assault. Hamilton's aim is the ridge between Klipspruit in the east and Doringkop in the west. The 21 st brigade who has to conquer the western half of the heights, begin the attack with the City of London Imperial Volunteers in the front line and the Derbyshire Light Infantry on the left flank. Initially, there is almost no resistance, however, as they get closer to the Boer positions the gunfire increases and 800 yards from the ridge they start experiencing serious problems. There is no cover and their khaki uniforms offer no camouflage, because the Boers burnt the entire veld in front of their positions, before, the skirmish began. The khaki showed up spectacularly on the black veld. Meanwhile the 19 th brigade who were, ordered to storm the eastern ridges began their advance with the Cornwall-regiment on their left flank, the Gordons next to them in the east and the Canadians on their right flank. Because the 19 th and the 21 st brigades kept drawing away from each other, Ian Hamilton had to push his reserve troops; the Royal Sussex's in to close the gap. Even though the Brits were well covered by artillery-fire the progress was difficult. Not only did the Boer sharp shooters reap havoc amongst the khaki's the Boers artillerymen made the advance very difficult with exceptionally accurate cannon-fire. The Boers artillery succeed to silence one of the English's 5-inch guns after six shots at a distance of 8 500 yards. From 1 800 yards the 19 th brigade infantry is greeted by severe rifle-fire from the burgers positions, which increases with vehemence as they get nearer to the defence positions. Clouded in dust and smoke from the bullets and the bombs bursting around them, casualties begin to increase, before, they reached the burnt veld in front of the Boers positions. The mine dumps are spotted behind the Boers and this gave the British troops inspiration. “Their pace remained as it had begun, a steady walk, their discipline so perfect that an order to change directions that reached them at the height of the uproar, was obeyed as accurately as though They had been the front of a squad upon the drill ground,” This is how a professional British historian described the assault.
Just before, reaching the crown of the ridge they fasten their bayonets to their rifles. Only to be disappointed that the positions they so gallantly fought for and was met with so much resistance, was deserted. A few hundred yards further they are met with fierce resistance, so bad that 20 soldiers and one officer are killed and 84 soldiers wounded. The British realize they cannot chase the Boers from their positions with bayonets. They are, however, in an excellent position to put the Boers under cross fire from the right flank, which they do without hesitation.
The troops advancing to the west of the Boers positions experience just as much resistance. Their approach to get nearer to the Boers positions is short forward moving attacks due to the accurate marksmanship from the Boers and their Mauser's. When the British troops reached the crest around dusk they were surprised to see horse riders galloping in an easterly direction from Doringkop. The reaction of the Brits was that it was general French and his cavalry; therefore, no effort was made to pursue the Boers who were fleeing from the western heights and Doringkop. For the burghers on Doringkop, Danie Theron, who was defending the western lines, has nothing less than the deepest scorn. His telegram to Louis Botha read as follows: “De lafaards die de positie bij Doornkop moesten behouden, vluchten van daar zonder bijna een schoot te schieten.” (The cowards who were supposed to defend Doringkop fled practically without any shots being fired.)
After the evacuation of the Klipriviersberg, a portion of the burghers went back to Roodepoort. At the same time, Lord Roberts outflanks the Boers who are dug in on the koppies north of Natalspruit his objective is the very important railway junction at Elandsfontein and Germiston. His advance progresses almost without any resistance. It is only Colonel St. G C Henry and his mounted infantry that run into a number of Heidelbergers that offer intense resistance until the artillery ranged in on the burghers and they were forced to retreat in the direction of Heidelberg. Henry's troops also engage in battle with a number of burghers who are on a train steaming past from Natal. The Brits try to cut the train off, but fail.
At Elandsfontein station Henry and his troops come against heavy resistance from a large group of burghers who are determent to delay their advance, whilst the trains and railway-wagons depart to Pretoria. The burghers mount a Long Tom onto a railway-wagon and while the Brits were trying to destroy the railway line with cannon fire. The railway-wagon with the Long Tom mounted onto it disappeared in the direction of Pretoria, practically under the noses of the 18 th Mounted Infantry who were charging in to block off the line. The burghers retreat in the direction of Germiston and shoot at the Brits from the mine-dumps. They cannot, however, prevent the take over of the station along with 7 locomotives and 200 train-wagons.
During the battle for Johannesburg 28 British soldiers died and 134 were wounded. No one is sure and there are no accurate records of how many Boers lost their lives or how many were wounded.
*The eye of the Kliprivier. I assume is somewhere in the area in front of Doringkop and where the Lido hotel stands today.
An extract from the book “Out of the Crucible,” written by Hedley A Chilvers. First published in Nov 1929. Reprinted Nov and Dec 1929 and Jan 1930.
Information taken from a diary belonging to Mrs. Isabelle Lipp, wife of the late Mr. Charles Lipp, then manager of the Standard Bank in Johannesburg during the Anglo-Boer War. She and her husband were British subjects who had obtained permits from the Boer Government “for themselves and 7 staff members to remain and continue business. They had to take an oath of absolute neutrality.
The diary gives a vivid picture of the town and the events that took place. I have only used a small section from the diary. NOTE: The days events for May 27 are not in the diary.
May 22-25: The British troops are getting nearer every day. A thousand cases of ammunition and 700 bags of mealies were forwarded a day or two ago to the Klip River, where the Boers evidently intend to make a stand… The National Bank is crowded day after day, by angry, anxious men. No gold issued, only notes, which in turn can be exchanged for silver… Trenches are being dug, cannon placed, fortifications built around the outskirts… Business is practically suspended
May 28: At last! At last! Our soldiers are near. Boom! Boom! We hear the cannon thunder… the hills around Johannesburg are lined with men, Women and a few children…. All day long we are on the hills listening to the distant cannons.
May 29: Still the cannon boom and now we know there is fighting at Baragwanath and at the Klip River… Crowds of spectators still line the surrounding hills… Tremendous excitement reigns everywhere… Many people expect Johannesburg to be in flames tonight.